A Tomorrow For Us
by WDO345
Summary: Thus, The Gears Fought here. After the end of the Locust War, with the Gears rebuildings their home and the Government, a portal to a new world opens up in Jacinto. A world full of new opportunities and second chances. A place untouched by the ravages of modern warfare. A place beyond the Gate. Revamped in A World Beyond Their Own.
1. Chapter 1

Sera was in ruins. It was evident to all the remaining human beings on the planet. Their home had been destroyed so utterly, from Tyrus to Pelles, there was nothing left but complete and total annihilation. The Stranded, South Islanders, Remnants of the UIR, and the COG Army all worked to rebuild what they lost. What the COG had destroyed in order to preserve mankind. Admittedly, not everyone had agreed to that method, and while animosity held, no one felt the need to bring it up anymore.

No point in digging up old ash covered skeletons when there was work to do. The Gears were helping out where they were needed, handing out food and supplies, while also scouring the ruins of Jacinto for anything useful now that the Locust and Lambent were gone. The remnants of the UIR had mostly integrated themselves with the Gears, citing mutual survival, and Colonel Hoffman established the United Seran Government, USG, to replace the COG and the UIR. Most of the cabinet members were former Gears, however several Stranded were given leadership positions, with a Gorasni taking the place of the Chief of Internal Affairs.

The remaining veteran Gears and Stranded with combat experience were brought together and used to reform the 26th Royal Tyran Infantry, the Unvanquished, and reestablished themselves as the shining and well-respected military group in the USG Army. Sergeant Marcus Fenix retired from the 26th RTI, staying for a year as a Commando Instructor before moving to the outskirts with Lieutenant Anya Stroud and starting a ranch.

Corporal Baird was promoted to Sergeant, and was put in charge of Delta-One now that it was absent of a leadership position. The members of Delta-One now consisted of Augustus Cole, Samantha Byrne, and Clayton Carmine. Members who had served with Delta-One during the Locust War were given the nickname 'The Delta Gears' and all of them had been reassigned to high priority Commando teams. Corporal Jace Stratton was put in charge of Alpha-Two, alongside fellow 'Delta Gear' Dizzy Wallin.

The 26th RTI, now reformed and standing with a multitude of battle-hardened Gears, were assigned in ensuring safety to the Stranded communities rejoining the USG, and establishing trade routes between the independent Stranded communities. Colonel Hoffman, who became the Chief of Defence, spent most of his time rebuilding the assets that the Gears lost and never properly utilised during the Locust Wars. King Ravens were still plentiful in numbers, while a new emphasize had been put into the USG Navy. In the incident that a Locust threat should emerge again, Hoffman realised that a Navy would have been supremely useful.

Sera was rebuilding, and beyond a few pirates acting up here and there, it was still working out as well as it should. In the middle of Jacinto, where the majority of the former COG citizens and Stranded communities now congregated around, there was a festival of sorts as people celebrated the one year anniversary of the end of the Locust War.

On this day, a threat that had appeared out of nowhere and began killing innocent civilians, without cause or justification, had been defeated by the overwhelming perseverance for mankind. It was a day to be remembered and cherished. A day to be loved by all.

It was ironic that this day would also be the day that it would happen _again_.

0oo **A Tomorrow For Us** oo0

"Everybody get back!" Jace yelled, pulling the trigger of his Lancer as more of the armored soldiers continued to pile into the courtyard. Their armor was pathetically thin compared to Gear armor, but they made up for it with numbers. It was almost like the Locust Horde, but not quite. These guys were a hell of alot easier to kill, and it didn't take much more than one bullet. "Get some AA fire on those damn lizards!"

Several other Gears of the 26th RTI did as he told, not wanting to question the orders of a 'Delta Gear' and oriented as many of their heavy weapons towards the skies to shoot down the aforementioned flying lizards. "Control, this is Alpha-Two, reporting from Jacinto Plaza! We have enemy forces moving into the festival grounds with civilians heading towards the bunker zones! We have airborne targets and air requesting air support!"

" _Jace, it's me Damon!"_ The leader of Delta-One blared out from the COMM. line. Jace frowned, hoping Baird was in one of his better moods whilst signaling for Dizzy and the rest of his eight-man team to move up on the enemy soldiers. " _What the fuck is going on?! There are reports of people wearing medieval armor and using swords attacking civilians and soldiers alike! Is it the fucking locust or has some offshoot Stranded community really let themselves go!"_

"I don't have a clue!" Jace replied, revving up his chainsaw and bisecting a weird, green thing that vaguely resembled a Wretch. "But they aren't that stuff! There's just too damn many! They're everywhere!"

" _Sounds like an average mission for Delta,"_ Samantha commented.

" _Just like the good old days!"_ Cole whooped into the COMM. line.

" _Yeah, yeah, daisies and Locusts up our asses every minute of every day. A real great memory, now how far have they gotten into Jacinto Plaza?"_ Baird asked.

Jace turned his head to see several of the, frankly speaking, centuries old infantrymen form some sort of phalanx in the Plaza. The Gears around him all opened fire, and the large slug rounds quite literally tore through the flimsy sheet of steel, puncturing the armor underneath and killing the men behind them. Frowning in contemplation, Jace tried his best to think over his words. "Uh, nowhere really. Besides their flying bird things, these guys aren't getting that far. Even those giant green things isn't lasting long unde our guns."

" _Giant green things?"_ Baird asked. " _Do I even want to know?"_

"Probably not," Jace confirmed. On cuse, a King Raven flew overhead, its front gun firing down on the flying lizards. The rounds tore straight through their armor, turning the beast into swiss cheese, and the aircraft reorientated to head towards the Plaza. It hovered in the air, before members of the 26th RTI Special Tactics Group dropped down, accompanied by Delta-One and Foxtrot-Six, led by Sergeant Alexandra Brand.

"Glad you could join the party!" Jace welcomed them with a smile, feeling elated at seeing his friends again.

"Long time, no see," Dizzy greeted. Delta-One exchanged a few words between them as the Gears in the Plaza mowed down the enemy units that had appeared from a weird colosseum thing in the middle of the road, and Baird was quick to start sounding like a grumpy cat.

"Hold fire, hold fire! We need to keep some of them alive as prisoners. All Gears, aim for the legs or the arms. Get as many as you can, scrap the rest," Baird said- well, more like grumbled -into the COMM line.

'The Delta Gears' all stood idly as they watched the regular Gears handle with the surprisingly easy threat. The enemy didn't even look like they used firearms, and their armor wasn't even that thick to take regular weapons fire. Besides that flying thing and some of the odder creatures, they had absolutely zero problems so far. "Is that even a battle anymore?" Baird asked rhetorically, his voice incredulous.

"The Cole train isn't as hyped as he was when he got here," Cole replied.

"It's even more ironic that this happened today of all days," Jace said, "And we're kicking their ass like it's nothing." Everyone simple nodded their heads in agreement, staring at the battle and waiting for when they should get involved.

They never fired a single bullet after that.

0oo **A Tomorrow For Us** oo0

" _Reports show that only a rough dozen citizens were injured from the attack, with a half a dozen casualties. The worried rumors of this being the second coming of the Locust War is unlikely, as Gear forces have expressed very little problems in facing with their new threat. Recognising this, Chief of Defence Viktor Hoffmann, alongside current Chairwoman Aleyna Newt, have set up a conference tomorrow morning to discuss the actions that the USG would take facing this new threat..."_ the reporter droned on.

Marcus frowned from where he was in the kitchen, washing the dishes as Anya was dealing with the orders they'd received from several cities. Like many other ranches, The Marcus Ranch had been busy supplying food and rations to the rebuilding cities of Sera as the Locust War had ended. Now though, Marcus was unsure of whether or not that peace would last.

Anya stepped into the kitchen, her eyes tracking Marcus' movements as he listened to the radio. "They won't call you back," Anya stated, "I doubt Baird or Hoffmann would let them." Marcus sighed, knowing that she was right, but at the same time he couldn't help but worry. The Gears was like family, and knowing that another war was starting- even when he had promised himself to never take part in one again -and he was nowhere with them felt a little disconcerting.

"With how things is sounding like, I don't think it's going to be a war," Marcus said. Anya stepped up behind him and hugged him from behind. She laced her fingers across his chest and tried to comfort his raging thoughts.

"You're right, the USG isn't like the COG. We're tired of war, and we're used to death. This isn't going to faze people much, and while they'll demand for compensation, as long as the other side is willing to talk then I don't think it'd become like another Locust War. I heard most of them were humans, so they could have just been pirates or raiders."

Marcus' nose wrinkled, "Then how did they get into Jacinto, which is being protected by a regiment of Onyx Guards that I had personally trained." It tingled in the back of his mind, and Marcus knew that something really strange was going on here.

"It doesn't matter," Anya stated firmly, "It's not our business anymore. You're not Sergeant Fenix and I'm not Lieutenant Anya Stroud. Have some faith in everyone, they can get things done without you." Marcus didn't let go of his frown but nodded anyway, absentmindedly wiping the dishes.

0oo **A Tomorrow For Us** oo0

 _Two Weeks Later_

"Ladies and gentlemen," Viktor Hoffmann, Chief of Defense for the United Seran Government, stood in front of a total of 7 000 battle hardened Gears getting ready to travel through the Gate where their newest adversary, this Empire, had came out from. The men and women that would be traveling through would be none other than the 26th Royal Tyran Infantry Division, alongside the 12th Armored unit, comprised of Centaur Tanks, Assault Derricks, and Armadillos, as well as the 5th Mechanized Infantry Unit, that mostly contained Rat Bikes and APCs. Adding to this considerable firepower was the 12th and 2nd King Raven Wing, accompanied by the new Hummingbird Jet Fighters. "What you are about to embark, I must admit, is comparable to writing down your own history book."

For the 7 000 men and women that would be passing through the Gate, all of them would no doubt go down as pioneers of exploration and discovery. "An altogether different world, one that has not been ravaged by the Locust War and is teeming with life that we have never encountered. There is no doubt that the journey you will embark on, will bring about great change in the current state of things."

"However, we will not march out into war. Like the promises we made when we were the COG, and the promises we made when we were all Stranded and forgotten, we will march forward, as a Peacekeeping force. Your objective is to establish communications with the other side, acquire beneficial resources, and assess the immediate danger. Once that is done, politicians and ambassadors will be sent out to barter reparations and establish a political connection between us and them," Hoffmann said. It was clear to every Gear there that he was slightly off-put with the words coming out of his mouth, but every Gear understood the meaning of it. Nobody wanted another war, and the politics that came into play now were ever abundant.

All of them had the briefing, and the robots they sent through reported large sums of enemy soldiers on the other side, but also a lush and lavish field of grasslands. Natural resources untouched by industrial humanity, and teeming with resources. All things that had sparked the Pendulum Wars, and something the more free-willed and independent members of the USG would not tolerate unless it really was to defend the USG's way of life.

Politics, the USG was rife with it. Baird liked it that way, more politics meant less bullets being tossed his way. "Without further ado, I leave you all to your commanding officer! General Bernadette Mataki," Hoffmann nodded at her before turning around and leaving.

"Heads up Gears!" Mataki yelled, without the aid of a speaker, and her voice traveled down the row of soldiers like the roar of a Brumak. "Intelligence shows that we have hostiles on the other side of the Gate. We have been given the go ahead to use lethal force if necessary. APCs will enter the Gate first, followed closely by Armadillos. Once we reach the other side, you will immediately dig in and wait for any hostile actions before opening fire. Am I understood!"

"Yes Ma'am!" Like a chorus, all of the Gears yelled it out like an old marching band tune. It had been a long time since any Gear had been part of a formation like this, with so many others next to him at one time. It was refreshing, some might say. Bernie felt rejuvenated, knowing she would be going back to war with comrades in the Gears, and raised her hand in the air. "Operation: First One Home, is a go!"

 **Prototype fic I got after watching S1 of Gate. I absolutely adored the show, just because I adore crossover fics and the whole anime could be boiled down to that. I loved it to bits, and I thought about crossovering it with some other story. At first I was going to do Valkyria Chronicles, but after playing VC2 and the ensuing Civil War, I thought there was too much stuff going on for that to work out. I wanted to put down an original story of mine as a crossover piece, but since I haven't finished, I thought better of it. So, I finally came down to Gears, and it was really just coincidence. It has been a while since I've played GoW, I won't say that I'm master at the game and it's story.**

 **I'll leave this here, and depending on the reception I'll think about updating this. I have FDA to contend to and its really fun to write. So yeah, WDO345, signing out.**


	2. Chapter 2

" _Mortars, coming down!"_ The COMM line cackled as explosive ordnance crashed down onto the Army adjacent to Arnus Hill. " _Good effect on target!"_ Baird ignored most of the chatter coming through as he and Delta-One made their way across the plains that separated them and the enemy force.

The Gears that had traveled through the Gate last night had been under nonstop battle with the enemy forces for the past forty-eight hours. The Centaur Tanks and Mortars had been raking in kills by the dozens with every shot, while none of the infantry had to even aim to score a hit. It was such a one-sided slaughter that it was nowhere near funny, and it was only becoming even more absurd as their flying lizards, which had been designated as 'Dragons', tried to burn the Gears with its ability to breath fire. Vulcan gunner positions were set up to deal with them, and King Ravens maintained air superiority throughout the battle.

"Get those weapons up!" Baird yelled, watching as his fellow Gears lit up the area in front of them with weapons fire. Entrenched deep at the base of the hill with sandbags and foxholes, the Gears had been dealing with the numerous footmen that had somehow got past the shells blowing them up to bits.

Most of the Gears were out of their depth, as ever since the Locust War began, large scale warfare in this sense was unheard of. Likewise, fighting out in the open and in the plains like this was virtually unheard of, and the transition from urban warfare to the frugal countryside had been a jarring experience for them, especially the former Stranded in the group. Baird felt that he and the rest of Delta-One were the oddest ones out.

The team had gotten extremely used to operating as a single Commando team of four, and favored splitting up to teams of two that would cover each others backs as they proceeded through war-torn urban sections. Baird had only experienced war like this during the Pendulum Wars, and the novelty of their enemies being completely inept and unable to fight back properly made the new experience of fighting with a hundred other people around him and fighting in open plains just that much more harder to get used to. Sometimes being too easy didn't make it comfortable.

" _Mortars!"_ Baird reflexively covered his ears as more explosions riddled the battlefield, the panic screams of the primitives and their horror spread across the place as their bodies were flung in every direction. There was a problem though, the enemy had gotten too close to their lines, and anymore mortar firing could lead to Gears being killed by their own guns.

"This is Delta-One to Control! Cease fire! Cease fire! You are Danger Close! Stop with the fucking fireworks!" Baird didn't wait for a reply as Imperial soldiers had reached the sandbags and started flailing their swords to try and cut through the heavily armored Gears that were defending the position. In true Gear fashion, most of them dropped their weapons and met the Imperial soldiers with the chainsaw bayonets revving.

Baird did the same meeting an Imperial soldier that had managed to push up towards him with his shield and sword in hand. Baird noticed how his eyes widened in some sort of fear as he pulled up his roaring chainsaw bayonet, and Baird's already low opinion on these primitive parasites dropped lower as he snarled. He brought his chainsaw down, which the soldier tried to block with his shield, but ended losing his arm as the chainsaw cleaved through the armor and tore up the flesh underneath. In a display of fortitude, the Imperial soldier pulled back and flung his sword hand towards Baird, managing to get a good strike on his chest plate.

Sparks flew where the blade met his armor, and no damage was dealt this his person proper. Baird flipped his gun in his hands, and cleaved the Imperial soldier in half. Blood and bits of gore spilled out from the dead soldier, and Baird twisted back around to meet the next soldier that tried to attack him.

Cole was close by, and like all the other Gears, he was a full head taller than all of them, with arms even thicker. It felt like fighting the Stranded all over again, and Cole chortled as the Imperial soldiers tried to cleave through his armor with their swords. Two of such swords snapped when they came into contact of his armor, while another left behind only sparks. Cole punched the head of an Imperial, caving the skull in and tossing the dead body at the Imperial to his right. The one to his left tried to stab Cole in the back with a dagger, which dinged off his armor plates, and Cole slammed an elbow into his gut, forcing the soldier to the ground and gasping for breath. He clutched his chest, and Cole was surprised to see him coughing up blood. These guys must have been really soft.

Cole pulled out his Lancer and shot him in the head, while cleaving the next one in half. He reloaded his weapon, slipping the magazine in as the next wave of Imperial soldiers reached the sandbags."Come on baby! Come get a piece of the Cole Train!" He yelled and ran off to meet the them. He bulldozed past a dozen of them, cracking bones and trampling them beneath his feet, and revved up his Chainsaw to meet the next wave.

"These guys don't fucking quit!" Clayton said, sounding breathless as he crushed the skull of an Imperial under his foot. "What's our casualties? DId we lose anyone?"

"Do you see any Gear bodies on the ground?" Sam asked rhetorically as she pumped her Gnasher shotgun. An Imperial had his chest blown open by the powerful CQC weapon, a fine red mist appearing right in front of him as he flopped to the ground dead.

"God! This isn't even a battle anymore!" Clayton yelled, and continued to bring the enemy down to the ground with his brutal and feral way of fighting. Baird lamented the fighting, knowing that a few of his fellow Gears were horrified in the one-sided massacre, and would probably need some attention with a psychiatrist for a while. This wasn't a war anymore, it was just wailing on the little stick with HE rounds.

But the Gears had their orders; and after all, they attacked first.

0oo **A Tomorrow For Us** oo0

Midnight. Enemy forces had begun to start creeping towards the hillside of Arnus Hill as the sun set. As far as the Gears were concerned, they were members of the backup group that had not participated in the original battle for Arnus Hill. Jace and his eight-man team of Gears crept slowly towards the enemy forces. keeping themselves hidden inside the multitude of tall grass that surrounded the hill.

Some of the veteran Pesang commandos and shock troopers discussed their sense of nostalgia to the members who had never been a part of the Pendulum Wars, stating that commando work like this was common in UIR controlled territory. No matter what though, the Gears favored heavy infantry based tactics, and while they had the assets, Jace was slightly annoyed how the higher ups didn't utilise the King Ravens and artillery as much as they should have.

In truth though, caused by the Gears over-dependence on infantry based warfare, the King Ravens were not part of a separate Air-Force. Rather they were under the command and control of Ground Commanders, which resulted in a difficult time requisitioning more fuel and ammunition for their use. To add to this the artilleries had used up a sizeable amount of their ordnance in the day, and since Sera was still rebuilding- with their infrastructure in shambles -Bernie thought it would be prudent to conserve ammunition.

Besides Jace's thoughts though, most of the Gears hadn't minded it. In the end of the day, the COG Army was Infantry and only Infantry, and that trend carried over into the USG as well.

When the enemy Army passed the first line of the Gears defences, Dizzy clicked the detonator to reduce the middle portion of the army to dust and smithereens. A wall of fire separated the front half with the back half, and while the enemy panicked at the sudden fire, the Pesang commandos and shock troopers pulled out their machete's and began to take down the the Imperial soldiers at the back of the army one by one.

While that was happening, Alpha-Two, Alpha-Three, and Alpha-Four rose to a standing position and opened fire. Their weapons barked in the moonless night, illuminating their surrounding with bright flashes of gold and red, and blinding the Imperial soldiers who tried to reorganize themselves into a phalanx. Jace lined up his shot with an important looking Knight type sitting on a horse, and fired his weapon.

The horse rose into the air as its gut was ripped apart by the bullet, and the knight was tossed into the ground roughly. "Priority target! The red armored old fucker at the front! Cover me!" Jace crouched low and crab-walked towards his mark, while Dizzy and the rest of Alpha-Two lit up the area above his head with weapons fire. Imperial soldiers that tried to save their CO were systematically gunned down or injured before they could reach him, and Jace was slightly disturbed at how they literally threw themselves into the bullets, trying to increase their chances by simply sending as many bodies as possible. It didn't work, and it left a bad taste in Jace's mouth.

Jace reached the prone form of the knight and as he prepared himself to drag him back towards the Gear lines for safety, the knight's eyes snapped open and before Jace knew it an arrow was pierced in his right shoulder, the metal edge digging deep into his flesh and scraping his bones.

"Agh!" Jace yelled in pain. "Get off me!"

 _:"I will not die without taking a pint of your blood with me!"_

"Jace!" Dizzy yelled. He fired and caught the knight by his left arm, causing the elbow to explode and effectively amputating him. The knight spun from the force of the hit, and managed to break the arrow inside Jace's shoulder. "Gah! Agh!" Jace, angered by the arrow in his shoulder, knocked the knight out with the butt of his rifle and grabbed his ankle to none too gently drag him back to Alpha-Two.

The Gears surrounded Jace, defending their squad leader, and mowed down ten dozen Imperials as they did. It was after an entire hour of nonstop shooting, at which point four Gears had ran completely dry of ammo, that they had finished off the last of the Imperial Army that hadn't retreated.

The Gears returned back to Arnus Hill, with a hundred prisoners and several thousand dead Imperial bodies left behind.

0oo **A Tomorrow For Us** oo0

Bernadette Mataki was frowning as she read through the reports sent in from her Gear teams. After the battle of Arnus Hill, she had dispatched more than a dozen squads to scour through the battlefield looking for anything worth any value. The only thing they managed were several pristine swords and other random things.

The Pesang Commandos had skinned and taken the various scales and such from the dead animals that the Imperials used, saying that they could become useful eventually. Bernie agreed, only because of her own background, and prepared a proper storage area for it in the base,

The prisoners that they had captured had been placed in temporary holding cells, and were provided with the necessary amount of food, water, and comfort to maintain the USG humanitarian stance. Like how Marcus Fenix had taught his generation of Commandos, so too did Bernadette not advocate torture and ill-treatment of prisoners. War crimes that the COG and the UIR committed in Ramascu and Learan would not be repeated again.

"You wanted to see me, Ma'am?" Baird, the little shit, walked into the room with his Lancer on his back. Bernie noted how the chainsaw was still bloody and frowned.

"Had fun Baird?" She asked, indicating his bloodied weapon. Baird shrugged his shoulders, not giving her much of an answer while still remaining to be a little shit with a sardonic smile on his face.

"Can't say I am having much fun. The toga rejects aren't as mean as Grubs, no bark or bite to them. Almost makes me wish that we were back to fighting them," he stated. Bernie kept her face incredibly neutral, which was evidence to her long sets of patience with men like Baird. "What did you want to see me for? Because, you know, I'm a busy person and I can't waste my time just to talk shop with an old hag."

Bernie refused to give him the satisfaction of a reaction and merely slipped a piece of paper towards him. "Congratulations, you've been promoted to Lieutenant," Bernie said, relishing the shocked look on Baird's face. "And you're being taken off the active duty roster. You'll be sitting behind a desk." Now he began spluttering in shock and defiance.

"Wh-You can't do that to me! I need to be in the frontlines!" He argued. "You give the past few dicks I've met promotions and when I don't want one you start handing it out like dead rats on a stick?! Frankly speaking, that's bullshit!"

"Baird!" Bernie snapped, "I know that you don't like it but suck it up! Right now, we have an abundance of Gears and not enough Officers. WIth the openness of this area, we can't rely on small Commando based tactics as much anymore. Ground supports and a minimum of eight-manned teams are being regulated for any extended missions outside the premises of Arnus Hill. Thus, a lot of the NCOs we currently have heading the various Gear teams have now become redundant. Like you!"

"So you're tossing me aside?!" Baird said in anger, "I have the right to petition for a tribunal and sue you for unjustly laying me off!"

"You're still getting paid!"

"But you're putting me behind a desk!" Baird accused.

"Yes, I am! And you're not changing my decision!" Bernie stated, "Beside Anya, you're the only who can do the job with any modicum of actual decent results!"

"I -wait what?" He asked, now interested in his new assignment since it was being compared to Anya's role. Bernie grunted, pleased that he had stopped whining, and continued to elaborate.

"You'll be acting as an intelligence officer- a job that's been left dry for too long -and you'll be tasked with gathering information and discussing about the possible resource values that the area contains," Bernie stated.

Baird frowned, and it didn't take him long to catch on, "You want a replacement to Imulsion?" He replied. Bernie nodded her head, sighing as the two of them now understood the secondary and prevalent reason why they had passed through the Gate.

"While we are indeed here to start peaceful negotiations, we also have our own energy crisis to worry about. There was a reason why we used Imulsion to begin with, and it's because Sera has no other means of an energy source that could conveniently last in the long term," Bernie said, "We need to find that resource here."

"And what? Start another Pendulum War?" Baird replied, his mouth set into a grim line. Bernie sighed, shaking her head as she massaged her temples.

"If I have anything to say about it, then no. I've seen too many good Gears die already," she said tiredly.

"Nobody here can really give us much of a fight; we can take them down easily. Steamroll right through them," Baird interjected.

Bernie shook her head. "Maybe, but we haven't seen everything that they have to give yet. Where there's a will, there's a way. We don't have any cards on the tables, hell, we don't even know if we're playing poker or blackjack! There are too many unknowns, and we don't have nearly enough contingencies for me to feel good about it." She glanced at her table and sighed, "And I don't feel like becoming genocidal just yet."

Baird frowned, but nodded his head. "Alright, I'll do it."

"You'll still have Delta-One at your disposal," Bernie said, "Cole has been promoted to Sergeant, and they'll receive a new recruit soon. Any maps and local knowledge our Recon-Teams can get from nearby villages and locals, we'll relay to you and you can use Delta-One on missions to find an alternative fuel source and anything else of value. Understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Baird muttered and turned around to leave, not bothering with a salute. Bernie watched him go, and downed her cup of coffee in one gulp.

0oo **A Tomorrow For Us** oo0

"Alpha-One through Six!" Major Nadi said as he read through the list, "All of you will be reassigned to Recon's-One to Six. From this point on, your objective is the reconnaissance and exploration of the local area. King Ravens have done a sweep of the area in a six mile radius from Arnus Hill, and have located several different villages and settlements, mapped out and designated for each squad to investigate. Your duty is to establish friendly relations, and to see if you can't open up trade for commodities between us and them. Standard Hearts and Minds play. We've all gone through Operation Lifeboat, dealt with the Stranded. Your squads were picked specifically for having Stranded among them as well," he said.

Jace nodded his head as the various Gears in the room murmured with each other. Alpha-Two had at least two former Stranded-turned Gears in their ranks, and they'd be good in beginning conversation with the locals. "Furthermore, each of your drones have the local language downloaded into their hard-drives, and can translate between you and the civilians. However, each of you are expected to attend at least 5 hours of Language Class to learn the language of this Region. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir!" The Gears chorused.

"Also, standard ROE for any meetings with Imperial personnel will be 'Fire only When Fired Upon'. We are not officially at war with them, and with the casualties, or lack thereof, the past few engagements have been filed under border disputes. Not enough to get a war started, and mind you, we're not looking to start a war."

"Yes, Sir!" Another chorus of agreements. Major Nadi nodded and swept his arm over the various vehicles next to him.

"Each of you will be provided with one Cargo Truck and two Armadillos, with a standard set of weapons. The Armadillos have been set up with enough ammunition and supplies to last you a month out in the field. A Vulcan Gat Gun has been provided for use and can be attached to the top of the Cargo Truck. That's it, I have nothing more to tell you guys. Dismissed."

The assorted Gear teams rose and saluted the Major, who returned it easily and then left the area. Seeing him gone, Jace turned to Corporal Yash, who was his 2IC after his promotion to Sergeant. "You heard that Yash?"

"Yea, you want to head out now?" The Pesang Shock Trooper asked, raising an eyebrow at Jace. The newly minted Sergeant couldn't help but grin and nodded, gesturing towards the Armadillos.

"Come on man, the skies is bluer than at the South Islands, and the grass is greener than on Tyran. Don't tell me you don't want to be the first one out there?" Yash laughed and shook his head.

"Everyone is raring to go, boss man," Yash said, indicating the rest of the Gears. "Everybody wants to see what this new world is like. Either way, if you want to go or not, that's up to you. Tell me to go left, I'll go left, it's as simple as that."

"That just makes things harder on me though," Jace commented.

"I'm not here to hold your hand, boss man."

"Fine then, what's our first village to hit?" Jace asked as he gestured for the rest of the squad to form up at the vehicles. Alpha-Two did as instructed, and Dizzy tipped his hat at Jace as he moved towards a secluded corner in the hangar bay, where a COMM station was set up so that he could speak to his girls.

"Some place in the outskirts. Scouts were able to find out the name as Coda Village."

"Alright then, let's go on with it!" Jace muttered, rubbing his sore shoulder as he hopped into the Armadillo.


	3. Chapter 3

Forward Operating Base _New Anvil Gate_ , was up and running within record time. The Gears had built a metal fortress around the dimensional opening, with fortifications, sandbags, and mortars setup to defend Arnus Hill from another attack that the primitive army might send.

The ground had been paved away for easy travel, with tents and prefabs set up and occupying the majority of Arnus Hill. Centaur Tanks stood at the forefront of the base, their cannons staring menacingly out into the wasteland of dead bodies and scorched earth, while King Ravens regularly patrolled the skies.

Overall, it was probably the cleanness and most organized base that Samantha Byrne had ever seen being used by a Gears for the past fifteen years. By the looks of things, so too did the rest of the 26 RTI agree, and were enjoying the clean and natural breezes - having long since gotten used to the stagnant air in the ruins of Jacinto.

"Man, oh man, does this feel good," Cole said happily as he stretched his back. Carmine was next to him and gagged when he got a face full of Cole's sweaty armpits shoved right at him.

"Agh-ewgh, gross! Get the fuck off me," he yelled in disgust. The Carmine pushed Cole back, looking like a child that his cookie stolen and stepped on right in front of his eyes. "That's disgusting!"

Cole laughed boisterously, slapping the Carmine on his back as he downed his cup of military sanctioned coffee. It was powdery and tasted like ass, but it was _good_. "Sorry man! It's just, can you believe this?! I haven't seen skies like this since my first and last thrashball game! And grass! When was the last time you stepped on dirt Carmine? I mean really step on it."

Samantha chuckled quietly to herself when Cole jabbed a meaty finger into Carmine's chest, causing him to flinch in mild discomfort underneath his cloth overalls. "I've been out on the Carmine farm plenty of times, being away from soil hasn't hurt me a bit!" The defensive tone that Carmine had taken while saying that had implied a different meaning though and caused Cole to burst out laughing. "Ah shut it," Clayton muttered as he nursed his cup of coffee.

"I think you hurt his feelings Cole," Sam teased. The sides of her eyes crinkled as she watched Carmine drop his head onto the table, shaking his head in annoyance.

"Hah! Sorry man," Cole apologised, though his wide smile said otherwise. A somber attitude then fell on them, each of them reaching the same thought as they stared at their cups.

"Dom would have loved this," Sam commented.

"Tai would have to," Cole agreed.

Carmine shrugged, knowing a few other Gears that would have loved to have had this opportunity too. "To the fallen," he said, raising his cup. The other three joined him, raising their cups in the air.

"And to a better tomorrow, yeah?!" Cole proclaimed. Laughs and smiles were shared as they drank their cups, an annoyed grunt leaving Carmine's lips as he pulled his helmet back.

"Next time we're drinking alcohol," he decided. Delta-One would have continued to share idle chatter, but somebody had stepped up and joined them around their table. The new Gear was wearing standard Gear armor, with the sleeves off exposing their arms. The only difference being that his armor was colored green with yellow stripes, and his short crop of light brown hair made it clear that he was not a Tyran.

"Private Dimitri Kashmir, are you Delta Squad?" Dimitri asked. It was clear as day to Delta-One that Dimitri was not COG, and even if he wore the uniform, his heart was still with the UIR. "If so, I have been reassigned to your unit."

Cole, being in charge of Delta-One, rose to his feet to greet the newcomer. A cup of coffee in one hand, and a wide smile over his face, Cole wrapped an arm around Dimitri's shoulders and corralled him towards the table. "Hahah, good to have you newbie! You're gonna fill in some shoes though, Baird's got a reputation he'd rather not have ruined by somebody other than him."

Dimitri was forced into a seat next to Sam, who smirked in amusement at the bewildered Gear. He blinked at her, and if Sam looked hard enough that she could pinpoint exactly where Dimitri came from. She guessed with a name like that he was from the Republic of Lauczi, which meant he had probably been part of some of the thickest fighting during the Pendulum Wars.

"Don't mind him," Carmine said, taking his hand out for a shake. "He get's like that. You may know him from Thrashball."

Dimitri grunted as he shook Carmine's hand, giving it a firm shake. "I'm a sharks fan myself," he replied evenly. Both Carmine and Sam laughed at what he said, even as Cole slapped Carmine on the head as he took his seat again.

"Well newbie, welcome to Delta-One," Sam greeted with a pat on the shoulder, and Dimitri nodded neutrally to her admission. Most of the bad blood between the UIR and the COG had slowly dried up after the remnants of each side called a truce for mutual survival. While grudges survived, it was noticeably more tamed, and after seventy-five years at war with each other, it was the best they could ever hope for.

"Well, welcome party's over," Cole said, pointing to Baird who was making his way towards them with a grumpy look on his face. When he noticed them, he nodded his head, and made a passing look at the newbie among them. "Baird!" Cole greeted.

"Yeah, hey guys," he replied, waving a lazy arm. "Got a mission for you guys."

"Already?! You got promoted just a few hours ago!" Carmine complained. Baird gave him a cheeky smirk and tossed a small rod at Cole, who caught it with a flick of his wrist.

"What's this?" Cole asked.

"A modification," Baird explained, "It's a scanner I built out of spare parts from an old drone. It'll work as good as JACK did, and you're gonna use it to scan for minerals."

"What for?" Sam asked, and immediately crossed her arms when Baird sent her a look. "I'm not taking a step unless I get a reason off you."

Baird sighed insufferably, and threw up his hands. "Fine," he groused, "You're being retasked to Mineral and Resources Investigation. Sera is seven days fucked in terms of power without Imulsion, we used up most of our fossil fuels and energy resources ages ago, right when we started a war for imulsion! So it's our jobs to find some here, in this lala fairy tale place and send some back to Sera to use."

"So we're stealing from them?" Sam said angrily.

"It's not stealing if they've never even knew it was there to begin with, besides, we're doing them a favor. Look at what happened to us! And if there's even a speck of Imulsion here then we are turning tail and leaving!" Baird countered.

"Alright enough, enough!" Cole broke the argument, holding Sam back and waving a placating hand in front of Baird. The former Delta-One leader grimaced as Sam shot him a 'We'll talk about this later' look, and sighed. With one last glance between them Cole dropped his hands and looked at Baird. "Alright, so where do you need Delta-One to go?"

"Caves, mountains, and caverns if you can find them. Press the button on the side of the drone, and then it'll activate and begin scanning the surrounding area and send the information back to me," Baird muttered, "From there we'll probably send out some miners to see if they can find anything. Dizzy will probably love that; get out of the military and start coming home to see his kids."

"We're going spelunking?" Clayton muttered. "Great, I'll go get the climbing gear." The Carmine shambled away, disgruntled at having his evening taken away from him.

"Is he okay?" Baird asked.

"He hasn't gotten laid in awhile, you know how it is," Cole replied. Baird raised and eyebrow, noticing Sam rolling her eyes with an amused smile while the Delta-One newbie had a very confused and bewildered expression on his face as he gripped his cup of coffee.

"Yeah, I can see that."

0oo **A Tomorrow For Us** oo0

Jace watched the scenery go by as the Armadillo sped through the plains. This place was very beautiful, Jace decided. It wasn't that Sera wasn't beautiful, but his homeworld was more of a beautiful ruin- an old dusty treasure room now forgotten. This world was beautiful in the sense that it was untouched; simple nature's glory. For a man of faith like Jace, he felt especially in tune to it.

"We'll be hitting the next village in a few minutes. Sun's setting right now too," Yash said. "Place seems friendly so far, reminds me of home."

"Yash something's been bugging you," Jace said, not staring away from the setting sun.

Yash glanced at Jace from the corner of his eye, not straying away from the dirt road too much. "No, why would you say that?"

"I make it a point to know how I mean feel," Jace replied, fiddling with his strap. "It's about the army isn't it? The ones we killed back at Arnus Hill?"

Yash didn't say anything, but his voice was hard; experienced. "A whole lot of men, Jace. Era like this? Soldiers are the same as law enforcement, and we killed enough to watch over all of Jacinto and more in the span of a night."

"They attacked first," Jace countered but Yash shook his head.

"I'm not saying it wasn't justified. But it still doesn't take away what it does. Lots of soldiers dead, and a lot of streets and pathways left open. You didn't live through the Pendulum Wars Jace, you didn't see what happens when COG or UIR forces left a town after it had been ransacked and reduced to a lawless shithole. Right now, whole plots of land are now free for bandits to play around with," Yash replied. "At the end of the day it isn't our fault, nor was it there's. It's just how the world spins."

"Is there a point to this?" Jace asked in annoyance, not comfortable of speaking about something like this after his time in Jilane; where women were used as breeding stock and were used as entertainment by COG soldiers. It left a sour taste in Jace's mouth, but he wasn't blind or deaf. In the land of lawless, the unbound and uncouth, stuff like that was natural and more often than not they fell into two things. Needless death and needless violence.

"I'm just saying, just because it looks pretty, doesn't mean it's pretty Jace," Yash said bluntly, staring at him. "Pesanga looks beautiful, it was safe when the Hammer of Dawn strikes came down, but after it did, that whole place went up in flames. Things happened, lots of it, and I saw a lot of it with my own two eyes. Just don't get your hopes up Jace, there's still a lot we haven't seen. Stuff we _know_ we _should_ be seeing."

Jace frowned but didn't say anything. The sun had fully set already, and there was nothing left to say. At the end of the day, Yash was right. Just because the place was beautiful didn't mean it was paradise. There was no doubt it had problems, even before the Gears arrived. Despondently, Jace knew it wouldn't be hard for him to stomach it if he ever saw it with his own eyes.

"There's something on the scopes, Sir!" Leana, a Gear at the back of the Armadillo, shouted as she dropped back down in the car. "It's a brumak that that size of a city hall and has wings!"

Both Jace and Yash turned to each other, eyes wide. "Where is it?" Jace asked tersely.

"Two kilometres ahead, it's breathing fire down somewhere," Leana reported, tucking her small bob of blonde hair behind her ear. "Sir, it's right on top that village that we were heading too."

"Step on it," Jace ordered, and Yash immediately floored the gas pedal. "Control this is Recon-Two. We are proceeding to objective village; be advised, there is an unknown boogey attacking it. It's a brumak twice its size and with wings, advise, over!"

" _Roger Recon-Two. Observe the animal and wait for it to leave. Check the ruins for any survivors, and double back towards Arnus Hill,"_ the COMM. Specialist replied over the line.

"Control, there is a possibility of continued attacks on passing villages, recommend evacuation of civilians, over," Jace said. There was a pause over the line, and Jace was slightly worried that maybe he would be denied.

" _Interrogative, how many people do you estimate would be needing evacuation?"_ Jace glanced at Yash, and the Pesang shock trooper shrugged his shoulder.

"300-500, I didn't get a good look. I could be off a hundred though, I'm not sure," Yash said. The Pesang gulped and glanced at Jace, "450, say that. Though the chances to me being wrong are highly likely."

"Less than six hundred, Control," Jace said, wording himself to increase the possibility of an evacuation order. "Control, they don't have any vehicles to use, and no way to defend themselves against a brumak-like thing!"

" _Roger, KR-One-One to One-Nine have been dispatched with spreading the news and transporting Gears to assist in evacuation,"_ Control replied. Before she could say anymore though Bernie's voice took over the COMM lines.

" _Lancers up Gears! I want those civilians away ASAP! Recon-Two do not engage the enemy at all, assist Foxtrot-One through Eight in the evacuation. Standard Lifeboat procedure! I'll be damned if any civilians die under our watch!"_

"You heard her!" Jace said. "Step on it!" The Armadillo raced away into the forest.

0oo **A Tomorrow For Us** oo0

By the time they reached the village, the Winged-Brumak had already finished incinerating it, and had left as the fire raged on. Jace and his squad were forced to wait out the fire until it snuffed out before moving in. When they did, the ground was still smoking hot, and rubble was everywhere.

None of the Gears needed an order to know what to do, as they had more than enough experience handling scorched ruins after a Hammer of Dawn strike. "Don't touch the rubble directly!" Dizzy warned, and the Geaes carefully kicked rubble away with their feet, used their guns to scoop up anything out of place, and search for any survivors.

The burnt and shriveled corpses only got passing glances before they refocused on finding survivors. For the Gears, this was more like home than the grassy natural life they had seen before. Death and destruction was what they were comfortable with, and they didn't try to hide it.

"There's someone down the well!" Leana shouted, pointing down a hole in the ground. "Blonde girl, at the bottom of the water! Hurry she might be suffering hypothermia!"

"She might have gotten cooked alive!" Yash said back, and quickly tossed a rope down into the water. The Pesang Shock Trooper scaled down and Jace held his breath as he waited for any news. It was so simple, to worry about somebody else's life when you didn't know them. So easy to latch onto that feeling when you've been surrounded by countless losses.

"I got her!" Jace smiled, nodding as some of the Gears waited impatiently for Yash to bring her up. "Yea-she's...she's...holy shit she's a _fucking_ elf!"

 _That_ caught everyone in a loop.

0oo **A Tomorrow For Us** oo0

Terror, that was all they had felt in that fateful night. When they had marched up that hill, waiting for a glorious battle, and watching their King marching ahead with the full intent of crushing their enemy. Instead flashes of fire and whines lit up the air, killing the men where they stood before they could swing their blades.

Death without honor, death without meaning. Just death, no sense of worth or contentment in the afterlife. The feeling still washed over them, of not being able to . Of one's life being judged and deemed worthless in the span of seconds as fire sealed their fates.

When they met their enemy, when they finally had a chance to fight. They fought not men, ogres, or trolls. They fought golems, wrapped in steel and built like oxes. Their swords broke, shattering to pieces, when they met them; making them feel and become powerless. Their courage sapped, as the golems swung their butchering blades, slicing men up by their entrails and crushing bone with fists and clubs.

It was like fighting demons given corporeal forms. No skill, no valor, no honor; just death, just brutality, just savagery. Their prides as warriors were denied, and their hearts left to quiver and shatter as their worlds were ripped apart.

What shouldn't be had become reality. What shouldn't be possible became possible, and all that was left was the feeling of being empty and hollow husks.

So they ran. They ran from battle, they ran from war, and thoughts becoming bandits filled their minds. Only spreading death would they get the war they deserve, the honor that they and their comrades had been denied.

But it was just not to be.

"You have ten seconds to surrender!" Alexandra Brand's voice was heard. KR-Two-One and KR-Two-Two, both housing members of Foxtrot-Six, hovered in midair as they sighted another remnant of the Arnus Hill enemy army. "Lay down your weapons, and you shall not be harmed!"

Surrender? That was impossible, they had already died, out on that battlefield, on that day. But their bodies had betrayed their soul, denied them what little honor they would gain striding up to those faceless golems as their butchering swords _scree_ in psychotic fervor. If they surrender now, then they would lose their minds soon enough.

"A-attack!" The soldiers roared, swords drawn and fist thundering against their shields. The flying behemoth twisted its nose towards them, and just like on Alnus, they died to a massacre. To faceless monsters taking their lives as though it was meaningless, without value or importance. This was a slaughter that said 'Your entire life up until this point was useless'.

If the enemy was the truth, then the Empire was the means to the truth.

Blood jumped out from bodies struck by their potent magic, skin ripping apart and entrails dropping to the ground. They could do nothing, horror-stricken faces that bleached white as men fell in a line. It wasn't a battle, they knew that, it was lineup for the Grim Reaper to finish them off.

Their deaths were far from painless, far from alright in their minds, but as they watched more and more of their fellows die so easily and so gruesomely around them, their sanity disappeared to eagerness. And it became a lot more easy to accept their deaths as they ran to the flying behemoths, wanting nothing but to at least be spared of such a demeaning fate.

 **Thaqif: I've read those stories and while a like them, more or less, I'm trying to write** A Tomorrow For Us **in a different direction and goal. Primarily because the Gears don't really consider this a war, and more on culture shock on the Gears side than on those in Falmart. These guys have only known war for 88 years, and then only ruins and survivor living for 15 years. They are probably more out of depth than the Falmart's on them right now.**

 **Now I just wanna get it out of the way, eventually this story will diverge from plot, little bits at a time If you've read FDA and understand my writing style, I like stacking little differences up until they completely become something else. The Gears do things differeny than the JSDF, because they're not as tied down politically, and they have more motivation to be in the SR. These different actions will lead to differrnt outcomes, different perspctives on their reputation and different overall events in the story.**

 **It takes time, but on a side note; if anyone has any thoughts on it, speak your mind. Just be careful how you word it, I tend to flash over anything I think are flames, just cuz it's really not that hard for me to get angry, which is a bad tendency I know. I read all reviews, so don't think your opinions and suggestions aren't seen.**

 **To the chapter itself, I had fun writing this. The GoW universe has this thing of fflip-flopping between seriousness and reallt cracky crack. The GoW universe is not a nice place, probably even worst than Falmart. People being eaten by monsters? Rape? Bandots? Dictatorial leaderships? All that and more. So, yea, there's that. Also, I have another fic I'm working on which is FDA, so I'm splitting my time up with that. Plus you know, exams are coming up soon, so, uh, yeah.**

 **WDO345.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Move in a calm and orderly fashion!" The armored golems said as they lifted arms as thick as logs, muscled in the fashion of Herculean gods knocked up with steroids, above their heads. Most of the villagers among the convoy of refugees were convinced that their unexpected saviors, riding on their metal pegasi, didn't have any necks. Some were even sure they weren't human, rather some Ogre-Human hybrid. Except the few who didn't wear their strange helmets proved that theory wrong, though they still held their suspicion.

Though what caught most of the soldiers in surprise were the women among them, dressed in the same steel-iron armor, and one of them even seemed like the leader of several of them. As it stood though, the villagers were not ones to say no to help, and their iron pegasi that flew in the air above them- circling around the group like guardians -gave them a feeling of safety.

Some of the villagers, elderly and young mostly, were allowed to ride on their metal carriages while others were given right to ride inside their iron pegasi. The Golem People also helped out whenever a carriage became stuck, and provided water when necessary, though they couldn't supply it every time.

Sergeant Alexandra Brand, leader of Foxtrot-Six, was smiling as she handed a little boy and his mother her canteen, nodding to them before continuing with her patrol around the caravan. It was good work, she thought, and she reaffirmed herself that this was why she remained with the Gears.

While she couldn't forgive the Gears for what they had done to her in Jilane, she could reconcile with her past. Her time in the Gears taught her fundamental values of the Gears, a family of soldiers, who admittedly readily that they weren't saints. They were men and women of war, part of the cog that kept the system running. Ultimately, she couldn't hate them, not when good people like Marcus Fenix, Dominic Santiago, Jace Stratton, and all other 'Delta Gears' among them.

It also helped that they saddled her with a squad filled with naive hometown boys who'd never seen a woman in their life.

"That girl has silver hair," Derrick, one such of the hometown boys, muttered as he stared with wide uncomprehending eyes at a girl sitting at he front of a horse drawn carriage next to a old man with a ridiculous pointy hat. Alexandra glanced at the girl, and squinting her eyes, she realised that she had naturally silver hair with a tuft of blue hair at the front.

She smirked as she looked at Derrick's awestruck expression. Unlike the other Gears who wore their springtime armor, Derrick still wore the winter armor with the sleeves, and somehow managed not to burn up from the heat. The other Gears liked to joke that Derrick stuffed ice in his sleeves to stay cool, but he brown-haired, doe eyed seventeen year old always denied it.

"Careful there Derrick, girl's can tell when they're being spied on," Vos, Foxtrot-Six's sniper, said as he wrung and arm across Derrick's neck. "Besides I'm pretty sure the Sergeant can hear us." He nodded his head at Alex and the two of them quickly sobered up when she sent them a wry grin. She turned her head when she heard the loud roar of an Armadillo engine, and watched as it revved up next to the convoy, scaring a number of the villagers at the same time. Some were screaming that the 'Flame Dragon' had arrived, and the Gears were quick to try and placate them, hands raised in the air and voices practically cooing at them.

"Jace," Alex greeted when the Armadillo stopped next to her. Jace gave her a nod in greeting, alongside a small grin, and eyed the long convoy of people. Alex let him take as much time as he needed to soak it all in, as she knew Jace was the most affected with the things he had done and seen during the Locust War. He took a small breath and nodded to himself in some form of self-satisfaction.

"How many?" He asked.

"A little over six hundred," Alex replied. "What happened at the village? Were there any survivors?"

"Yeah, a goddamn elf is what we saved," a Pesanga soldier driving the car replied to her. He pointed a thumb at the back of the Armadillo, and a hatch opened up to reveal a female gear tending to a blonde haired woman lying on the ground. To Alex's surprise, she saw pointed ears on the sides of her face. She had seen the big beastly creatures during the attack on Jacinto Square and the battle at Arnus Hill, but those things were a lot closer to the Locust and thus, weren't really that surprising to her. The, _elf_ , looked human but at the same time it was obvious she wasn't, which made her appearance all the more shocking to the experienced Gear.

"Is she alright?" Alex asked, somewhat wary of the new creature they had found. She was beautiful however, Alex couldn't deny that, and for some reason that made a bitter taste in her mouth. "From the reports I would thought that whole place had been burned to the ground."

"It was," Jace said, "The girl survived by hiding out in a well."

"Smart," she replied. She turned to the medic watching over the girl. "How is she, doc?"

"It's normal, for a human being anyway. I honestly don't know how an elf's body temperature would normally be. For all I know she could be extremely cold or unbearably hot. She's stable though, no signs of outward stress or damage. She's probably very tired, is all," the medic replied.

"What about the convoy? How they've been holding up?" Yash asked.

"They're mostly tired. We've been helping out where we could, providing help and transportation to those who need it, but there's just too many," Alex replied. "I've got some civilians in the Ravens, but I can't put too many since they'll be our first line of defence if this, 'Flame Dragon' ever shows up."

" _There's a girl on the pathway. She's got a huge fucking scythe-thing above her head. Hostile pending,"_ Lieutenant Diaz reported through the . " _Bring the convoy to a halt! Any active units to check?_ "

"This is Corporal Jace, Recon-Two, we're free to check it out," Jace said.

" _Much appreciated, Corporal, the convoy will be on standby if you need us,"_ Diaz replied. Jace gave Alex a small nod and sped off towards the front of the convoy.

0oo **A Tomorrow For Us** oo0

Rory Mercury, Apostle to the God Emroy, was said to have gained many titles. The prevalent of which was Rory the Reaper, with her Halberd as her instrument, she would bring violence upon the heads of those she deemed unfit and unworthy. As a demigoddess she had lived for many years, seen many things, experienced joys, sorrows, and a myriad of other emotions too strong to describe.

She had watched civilizations rise, armies march under the banners of their kings, and bloodshed that stretched hundreds of miles. As a demigoddess, her loyalties lie only to her God Emroy, and she only involved herself in matters that interested her or would otherwise be one of her duties as an Apostle.

So that was why she was currently so engrossed in watching the newcomers in Falmart. She had heard the news, of course she had. If the sudden disappearance of hundreds of soldiers within a few days hadn't alerted her, then the panicked chatter of the winds definitely did. Her companions run far and wide, and while most of them could never hope to live as long as she did, Rory wasn't so arrogant as to assume she was the oldest. So when some of these oldest creatures too made sounds of doubt, she made a point to see what the fuss was about.

It only helped that their paths naturally intersected. Thus, she stayed and watched as they used strange metal dragons to protect the mortals under their care, and carriages made of steel roared to life as they sped towards where she sat. Her curiosity was piqued on that alone as she had heard of self-drive carriages before, from stories of the twin gods La and Elange having been able to achieve such feats through their understanding of magic and logic. Though she doubted they had arrived to the result that she was seeing with her own eyes.

One of the vehicles stopped just ahead of her, growling in some low artificial howl, and the top portion began to collapse back into itself to reveal several armored soldiers. She eyed them closely, and her senses immediately honed in to the heavy smell of blood and death around them. It wasn't like the blood she was used to, and she wondered if these men had a decent shower in ages. But it was a striking mix of scents all the same, different brands of beings she never encountered. They hung around these men like a warning to any animal or being. They smelled like Death given form. That alone, in its very own right, got her senses rolling. A grin formed on her lips and she watched as the armored men, some as big as a young Orsimer, make their way towards her with their hands upon strange staves pointing towards her direction.

But Rory's eyes, eyes that had seen the aging of man and the long since past sands of time, tracked a specific person. One she had picked among the other warriors drenched in the stench of blood. The blood around him was unique, it had a hint of stone in it, with the smell of strange beasts that she was certain were ferocious underground behemoths. But it wasn't just the unique smell that garnered her attention- it was his eyes. The eyes of a Holy Man.

"Easy there," the man said, his hands open in a palm towards her. "We're not going to hurt you." He sounded strained as he spoke, as though he was merely repeating words he was wearing at that time, very slowly so that he didn't mess up.

Rory smiled at him and tilted her head. "Oh? You can definitely try," Rory stated. The man raised an amused eyebrow, stopping just underneath his strangely braided hair. His dark skin and facial features made him out to be a foreigner long before Rory heard his accent, but with the way how he seemed to be, she guessed her was a tribal. In fact, most of them looked tribal. They way how they painted their armor with skulls, marking white sketches onto the sides of their helmets, and how they stood. It spoke volumes of what they are. Warriors. Soldiers. But not ones she was used to, she immediately understood.

"I'm sure I can," the man said, and pulled back his lips to show off a smile. He didn't eye her as though he was underestimating her, rather, he glanced at her weapon and tightened his grip on his own. A man who would not be fooled by looks, but the way how he seemed to avoid pointing the tip of his weapon at her showed he'd rather not show violence to someone he perceived as innocent. A contradiction, a contradiction of a contradiction. Seeing something as harmless when it is armed, showed naivety, yet preparing to battle and yet restraining the effort, that was something Rory had seen a rare few times. Rarer in those who had the eyes of this man. The eyes of those who had their faith tested, wavered, and renewed.

This was _very_ interesting.

Strange voices radiated off the man's neck, and Rory tilted her head at that. She wondered he was a Sorcerer, for she had never heard of Magic being able to transport sound through distances, but to her surprise the man snapped his sight onto her, mouth open and disbelieving, before snapping shut. "I'm sorry, your, uh, holiness." Jace stated.

Despite herself, Rory couldn't help but laugh. His face had switched from wariness, to sudden shock and embarrassment so quickly she was left wondering in bewilderment for a stupefied moment. "That's Rory Mercury," she said hefting her halberd up and staring at the gathered men, "I'm an Apostle of Emroy."

0oo **A Tomorrow For Us** oo0

Lelei watched as the strangers dressed in iron and steel escorted them back onto the trail, furthermore as she watched the Apostle of Emroy, Rory the Reaper, smile in invitation at the children in the back of one of their horseless carriages. The Reaper that was widely feared for her abilities in death and destruction was content as a group of children rushed around her, speaking with her Holiness about the newcomers, all the while she sat atop the lap of one of the newcomers, a darker skinned male who didn't seem as affected by it as she thought he would.

She watched silently as the newcomers brought the convoy back into movement, and the 'King Ravens' that flew about continued to circle them. The newcomers, calling themselves 'Gears', swung large arms to signal the people to speed up and Lelei snapped on the reins to do just that.

:"Strange these people are. They have female soldiers, flying metal pegasi, and all sorts of other things. Truly, they are men from another world," her master, Cato, said as he stroked his beard. Lelei glanced at him, her red eyes expressionless as she too pondered on her own thoughts. "One of them even seemed to have an interest in you."

Lelei blinked and turned her eyes towards the person she knew had been staring at her for a while. She eyed him, taking his appearance into consideration of what she knew about the newcomers she had already seen. Like most of them, his skin was tanned showing long hours under the sun, and his eyes were honey brown. His hair was cut short around his face, but long enough to cover his forehead. Around his neck was a band where his helmet was suspended on. He looked much younger and smaller than the majority of the 'Gears' but he was still heads taller than her.

He seemed to realise she was staring back at him, as he turned away, whistling quietly to himself,.and hurried towards the front of the convoy. "Lelei, you've gone and scared the poor boy," Cato chuckled, "Though, you'd think for someone armed with those strange sword-things, he'd be much more imposing."

"Master, he is several heads taller than you, and looks as though he can bench press twenty of you without any problem," Lelei muttered emotionlessly. Her master only continued to laugh as he stroked his beard, and like her, she knew he was watching them like a hawk, studying them as much as she was. Though, their methods differed.

"It's too bad their women are so rough, though their curves are very nice by themselves," her master chuckled. Lelei bit the inside of her cheek as she stared at her master, her eyes deader than usual. But her musings were cut short when she heard a sound that she had never heard before. A slow whine, like the winds of Fall, before sharp bangs rising into a crescendo rang across the entire area.

Lelei pulled on he reigns as her horses panicked, and she glanced up just in time to see the battle.

That very same battle, would come to build the reputation of the Golems. It would be known as the battlefield that saw Fire, Steel, and Blood, in an instant so fast, no one could comprehend.

0oo **A Tomorrow For Us** oo0

" _It's right on top of us!"_ KR-One-One yelled as it swerved to the left, its front gun letting loose a stream of bullets onto the thick scales that protected this 'Flame Dragon' in the air. " _It's a fucking tank with wings! Get those missiles locked!"_

The King Raven didn't have time though as the Flame Dragon breathed a ball of fire onto them, and while King Raven Helicopter were built with armor to withstand small-arms gunfire and certain anti-air weapons, it could not deal with the intense flames of the Flame Dragon, however. The metal warped from the intensity of the heat, burning the Gears inside and cooking the pilot alive as it twisted in mid-air. The other King Ravens, some of them carrying civilians, retreated further back, while other launched a trio of rockets at the flying tank.

The Dragon, unlike King Ravens, had a lot more flexibility, and dodged both strikes when it realised that they were it was distracted, Alexandra Brand quickly ordered the convoy to speed up towards the valley ahead before the Flame Dragon could turn its sights on the people below. That thing was much, _much_ , larger than a brumak. It was like ten brumaks stacked up together. "Get those people moving, now!" Alex yelled.

To her dismay, some of the people began to panic and run each other over. While the Flame Dragon was busy with the King Ravens, the convoy was still sustaining casualties due to incidents and idiots not following orders. She watched as a wooden carriage fell atop a mother and her child, while the stronger more able-bodied people rush into the back of their fellows and ran atop their bodies as though they weren't there.

She gritted her teeth, and felt a sharp inkling of annoyance and resentment. Even the Stranded weren't so... _amateurish_ and while she understood the fear, Alex couldn't justify what they're doing it with that. She had seen civilians act up the same way, and while they panicked, not once had their shown such disregard. She shook those thoughts away and called her Gears forward. "Control the crowd! Help any of the injured up and get them moving! Derrick and Vos, I want you to grab a Mortar from the truck and set up at the hill!"

The two named Gears saluted and rushed off to do as she told. However, as they did their duty, the Flame Dragon had retrained its sights on the King Ravens, and with a throaty roar, it latched its talons into one of the King Ravens. It crushed the helicopter in its grip, and tossed the broken husk towards the ground where it impacted and exploded to destroy three dozen villagers.

Gears aimed their Lancers up at the Flame Dragon and opened fire, and most of them were dismayed to see that their bullets pinged off the Dragon's armor as though they were nothing.

Jace, inside the Armadillo, glanced up at the flying Flame Dragon. He greeted his teeth, and glanced at Leana at the back seat. "I want Vulcans aimed right down that lizards gut!" He ordered. Leana nodded her head and before long she had her vulcan trained on the Flame Dragon and firing. Unlike the regular bullets of the Gears, the Vulcan managed to pierce the Dragon's skin, allowing blood fall onto the ground as the Dragon engaged the King Ravens in an aerial dogfight.

The other Vulcans available to the Gears lit up the sky as well. Jace watched, gritting his teeth as they only seem to piss the thing off even more than necessary. " _This is Derrick, we have the mortar set up! I repeat, the mortar is set up! Get that sonovabitch to stay still so we can land the hit!_ " Jace frowned, trying to think of a way to try and get the Dragon onto the ground when something large, silver, and sharp, flew by his face and into the sky.

A loud _thoom_ sound was heard, and the Gears who witnessed it collectively dropped their mouths from the sight of a _scythe_ impacting the side of the Dragon's head strong enough to cause it to very nearly snap its neck, and causing it to crash onto the ground on its back. The scythe dropped back towards the ground, and one of the KR pilots commented how his instruments had been 'fucked up' by the shocks the hit had caused in the air.

Jace looked towards Rory, and gulped when she smiled up at him. It was _far_ from innocent, and Jace was suddenly wary at how he had thought she was nothing more than a little girl with a weapon. This girl was _dangerous_.

The Flame Dragon rose from its hit on the ground, turning towards the convoy with fire dusting around its mouth. It let loose another torrent of flames, and many of the villagers, including Gears, were unable to get out in time before they were burned to the bone.

Derrick and Vos, the two Gears that had set up their Mortar, trained their collective sight onto the Flame Dragon. "200 metres out," Vos said as he peered at the dragon with his sniper rifle. "You might want to hold onto the trigger a second longer, we still have friendlies in the zone."

"Roger," Derrick replied. Unbeknownst to them, Lelei and her master Cato had taken refuge in the bend of the hill, and it gave both magic practitioners to be able to witness what was to happen next. A small puff of smoke left the barrel of their weapon, a small disappointment that disappeared to the torrent of flames that fell from the sky.

Villagers yelled in horror, exclaiming that the sky was falling, as the back of the Dragon was bombarded with consecutive explosions. The Gears watched as the explosions penetrated the Dragon's tough scales, but didn't manage to kill it. Instead, the Dragon's wings were ripped to shreds, the right wing nothing more than flayed meat hanging on bone while the left wing was bare bones. The Dragon roared, and the King Raven all let loose a volley of rockets into the Dragon's side.

It's right arm imploded from the sheer force, blood raining down from the collective explosion, and the Dragon wobbled in its spot. "We have it! We have it!" KR-One-Six yelled over the . But to their shock and dismay, the dragon refused to go down without a fight. Another flash of fire, and another King Raven was sent to the ground as its rotors spluttered out smoke.

The Dragon twisted to look at them, and tried to escape the area. But without its wings it couldn't travel far, and Derrick launched a second volley of mortar strikes that ended him. The explosions hit directly onto the Dragon's neck, and the trauma was great enough to sever it, killing the Dragon instantly as it flopped to the ground mouth open and blood pooling over its fresh corpse.

The King Ravens hovered above its body, and all together fired another volley of rockets into the body of the dragon, lighting up even more with flames as the Villagers all stopped to stare in wide eyed shock and awe at the death of the Dragon.

Legend would come to speak of the terrible power that the Golem People wielded. In the end of the day, the Gears suffering casualties was the only normal thing about them, and even then, it only served to add more zest to their story. Now, and forever, Falmart spread the tale of their strength like wildfire through a dried forest.

Lelei La Lalena blinked as she stared at the Golem people, watching them as they watched the burning corpse of the Flame Dragon. She turned towards the two Gears that had fired their 'Apocalypse Bringer' and studied their small celebration. They grinned at the burning corpse, but they didn't seem to show any more outward sign of their tremendous feat. They seemed content, and before long they caught sight of both her and her master, and made their way to assist them. Lelei La Lalena was then given refuge inside on their 'trucks' and was given the opportunity to return with them. She agreed.

Rory Mercury was ecstatic at the power of destruction these people wielded. The blood of the Flame Dragon shed so easily as they had done was by itself a delectable taste in her mouth. Her body was already experiencing the souls of their warriors souls passing through her, and she felt each soul, truly shaped by war and death, past her body to be accepted by Emroy into the Gathering of Those Who Shed Blood. She eyed the Holy Man, and when she saw him stare directly at the dead, not turning his head head away nor allowing any expression of grief to form on his face, and muttering a prayer of farewell, she knew that she would spend the last of her years following these interesting people.

And one unmentioned Elf, Tuka Luna Marceau, who had only woken up in the ending moments of the battle, stared in awe as she witnessed the theatrical end to the Flame Dragon. Her mind flashed, wondering where she was, and her thoughts drifted to her father and where he may be. She turned towards the cockpit, and spied a strange looking man with light brown skin, staring into the distance. His face was foreign, with square shaped eyes and an angular face, he had the face of a Hunter, reminded her of her father. He turned towards her, and there was a brief note of surprise. He gave her a once over, and Tuka became acutely aware of her state of undress, and hugged the blanket covering her modesty close to herself. The man grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

" _Welcome back to the land of the living_ ," he said in a strange language.

 **I kinda sped through the Flame Dragon Arc, well, kinda. To be frank it's not really that hard considering the events of which can just be explained very easily. Dragons appears, gets its ass whooped, and left. Though here, I gave the Flame Dragon the credit it deserves and made it more of a threat, and the only reason why Itami suffered so few casualties was because, well, in ratio Itamis team was at like what 1:20 of the villagers? With those odds the Dragon was probably going to end up killing more villagers than the JSDF soldiers. Here, there are more Gears, meaning more casualties, and meaning more ordnance and weapons to kill the Dragon.**

 **I have gotten up to date on the Gate anime and manga, only to find out that it** _ **also**_ **has a Novel, which is a web series apparently. Man Japan really looks for things. Now I may have skimmed over some details, they'll be explained as the story goes on in the next chapter. Rory interest in Itami, truth be told, was never really explained in any of the Gate mediums, so I reiterated it into her interest of Jace, because Jace is a spiritual man, he has Faith, but not too much of it. So Rori has a connection with him in that regard, as well as, you know, being creatures of mass destruction.**

 **Lelei, now,** _ **apparently**_ **, Lelei has blue hair, both in the Light Novel, Manga, and Anime. However, the Manga and Light novel has it listed as very,** _ **very**_ **, light blue hair that make it look silver. And the anime, like most adaptations, went fuck you and went all blue. So I merged the two, because why not. At first I wanted Cato and Lelei to provide some magic assistance but the only type of magic I could think of was magic which made things exploded, but apparently,** _ **explosion magic**_ **doesn't exist in the Falmart universe because magicians (scientists) have mistaken the art of explosion with sealed gas exploding when you heat it up, which isn't sufficient enough to allow the use of** _explosion magic_ **.**

 **Finally, Tuka. She didn't get much shine in this chapter. Well, probably because she was out cold. Truth be told, I'm still thinking about her. Since now that the Dragon is dead, there'll have to be a more, 'Friends' or 'How I Met Your Mother' vibe to her realising her Father's dead. I'm sure the Gear psyches would love to deal with that.**

 **And finally. Since so little is known of Falmart's more fantastical side, I'll probably be borrowing from other mediums that have a fantasy side. Places like Skyrim, which I have hinted at with Orsimer, Arhurian Legend, F/SN, and other such places.**

 **Thaqif: I understand patience can sometimes be a bane in any man's life, but A Tomorrow For Us isn't my holy grail and while I enjoy writing it, I have other things to write, and other things to do in my life. Posting on my other stories solely in demanding me to post another chapter isn't encouraging. Telling me what I did right and what I could improve on however can be a much better alternative.**


	5. Chapter 5

Marcus Fenix frowned as he noticed the car driving into his ranch. He wiped his arm over his sweat soaked forehead and signalled for Xel, an ex-COG turned ranch helper, to head towards the car. The younger male nodded, turned towards the car, and made his way towards it in hopes of stalling whoever was stepping out. Marcus breathed in, turned around, and marched straight up towards his ranch.

He pushed the door open, marched towards a drawer in the kitchen, and pulled out a snub pistol from inside it. Loading the weapon, he tucked it into his waistband and cracked his neck. Anya strode into the room, a hard expression on her face as she saw Marcus stretching his arms. "Trouble?" she asked.

"We're about to find out. Saw a company car driving in; think it's Hoffmann?" Marcus asked, and the name tasted sour in his mouth. Both Viktor and him still didn't see eye-to-eye in things, mostly due to Marcus' extreme sense of individualism and independence. Viktor was a man strapped to old ways, but at least Bernie had a harder reign on him than the man was able to hold out against.

Anya frowned, and then gently pushed Marcus back from the door when he tried to answer it. He grunted, shooting her a disapproving face, but she shook her head and pointed towards the floor. "Stay here. Whoever it is, we don't need you escalating things by pointing a gun at their heads."

"I won't," he groused.

"You will," Anya insisted, "I know you. Now sit and don't move. _I'll_ answer the door." Marcus wasn't happy with the command, but nonetheless did as she told and waited behind her, though his gun was always at the ready. Faintly, he could hear Xel trying his best to keep whoever was heading towards the ranch from reaching it, and it was only half a minute later that he heard a _thump_ and an _oof_ right afterwards. Definitely Hoffman, Marcus thought.

Anya steadied her breath and opened the door before the person on the other side could knock, and Marcus was a little surprise to hear a sharp intake of breath from her. "Chairwoman Newt," Anya managed to say, "To what do we owe the visit?"

The former Gear felt his jaw slightly unhinge, not having expected the USGs Chairwoman to arrive. He maneuvered around Anya to take a look, but to his disappointment Hoffman was behind the Chairwoman. The Chief of Defense gave Marcus the stink eye, to which he returned with enthusiasm. "And Hoffman, great."

Aleyna Newt smiled at the two of them. Aleyna Newt was a former COG politician, one that had helped push forward Adam Fenix's plan to use the Hammer of Dawn as a deterrent and one that had opposed the idea of scaring Sera with the massive deployment of Hammer of Dawn's all across metropolitan areas. She was a woman that believed in the COG and Gears as Peacekeepers, and had earned her current title by promising support to war victims and stranded settlements, as well as working towards re-establishing dominion over Sera. She advocated Peace and Prosperity, and had downsized the Gears to meet this while at the same time not diminishing their effectiveness. She was a true and shrewd politician, one that Anya had voted for whole-heartedly. Marcus had just done as Anya did.

"May we come in?" she asked. "There are things that we would like to discuss with the both of you."

Marcus stepped forward, his hands balled to fists. "I'm not fighting your wars anymore!" He said sternly.

"That's fine because we're not here for _you_ ," Hoffman huffed. Before anymore could be said, each of their female counterparts quickly shushed them with harsh glares. The former COG man silenced themselves immediately, and only the faint sounds of their inner grumblings could be heard.

"Of course, you'll have to mind the mess though as we weren't expecting visitors," Anya replied as she gestured them in. Marcus would have protested, knowing that no good would come of their visit, but knew that Anya wouldn't hear of it. So he sucked in his gut and made way for the Chairwoman.

"Coffee or tea?" Anya asked politely. Coffee and tea had been rare commodities during the Locust war. Nobody could come close to them when out on duty with the Gears, and those who could were more than not forced to sell them for some extra rations. It really struck home to Marcus when he realised a container of Cocoa had been sent to him by Dizzy after the war. His family had opened a ranch up as well, and that was about as far as Sera's industry was at now. It's funny something so sought after now represented tougher times ahead.

"Coffee, please," Aleyna said, and Hoffman nodded next to her.

"How's the economy going?" Marcus couldn't help but ask. Right now, Sera's rebuilding was less than stellar. Agriculture was about the only thing raking in money, since nobody had that much money to spend for luxury items, and most work had been spent clearing out rubble and patching up broken buildings. Even then, workers weren't always paid, and everybody was running more on automatic than anything else.

"Industry was brought back up," Aleyna stated. "Right now we're focusing on essentials. Beds, chairs, and the like. We're distributing one bed, two chairs, and a table to every family unit, and selling more if a person can afford it. As it stands though, we're not looking at industry reaching the Golden Age for another decade." She paused to bite her lip, the smallest crack in her either neutral facade. "And rebuilding everything beyond wooden patch jobs and lacklustre hammering would take more than that. Sera numbers only in the low millions now."

Marcus allowed his stubbornness in their home to wan a little. Politician or not, Aleyna was a good woman, and she was trying her best there was no doubt about it, but the job she was saddled with would be a long and hair wracking one. Hoffman grunted as he gave the apartment a once over.

"It's a nice home," Viktor grunted. Marcus screwed his face up, wanting to make a nasty remark, but reigned in. The unspoken, ' _as any Gear has earned_ ' wasn't as clear as it was with Marcus, but the former Delta Sergeant knew that the former-Colonel respected all Gears finding a good life outside the military.

They sat down in the living room, and Marcus had to wave away Xel, who was sporting a busted lip, and gave him instructions to keep an eye out for any uninvited guests. Anya strode into the room, two cups of coffee in hand, and she quickly set them on the table where everyone was sitting around.

She took a spot next to Marcus and waited as Aleyna took a sip of her coffee. "What exactly are the two of you here for?" Anya asked.

Aleyna didn't respond immediately, rather she instead weighed the cup in her hand with a contemplative look on her face. "This is quite rich, it must have been expensive and hard to come by."

From the corner of his eye Marcus could see Anya smile slightly, and leaned slightly forward to give her reply. "It's grown here, after all. We take pride in our ability." Viktor turned away from the conversation, and Marcus couldn't blame him. There was more deft politics here than in the USG senate, and Marcus never did have a tasteful view in politics.

"It must be very profitable," Aleyna remarked, "You could see these thirty dollars per container, each enough to last a month."

"We've been selling at a lower than average price. Every little bit counts in the long run," Anya replied. The Chairwoman hummed and again the room descended into silence. "With all due respect Chairwoman, may we get to the point?"

Aleyna giggled to herself, and nodded in slight apology to Anya. "It's about the gate in New Jacinto Plaza. Specifically what is on the other side."

Marcus tensed but didn't do anything. At Anya's inquiring stare, Aleyna continued. "Gear forces have already established a foothold on the other side. So far, we have confirmed casualties on their side to number at 120 000 while we ourselves have lost zero Gears." Marcus was slightly mesmerized at such hopeful numbers, and was incredibly impressed that the Gears had managed such a feat. "And for the past few days, reporters and newscasters have traveled to the other side to display the current going ons of the other side, and the reports are splendidly fantastical."

"We've heard. I've listened to the radio, and heard about the descriptions on the other side. It almost sounds unreal," Anya stated. "Too unreal. I think I already see the problem you're suggesting Chairwoman." Marcus was slightly confused as he watched Aleyna smile and it only took him a few more moments of thinking before he too came to a conclusion.

"It's practically another Stranded Insurgency," Viktor said bluntly. "Some of the Stranded population wants to travel to the other side of the Gate and colonise the area. Hopeful workers too plan on mining for oil and other goods on the other side."

"You see," Aleyna interjected, "The Gate has opened up a world of possibilities. If we do create a settlement on the other side of the Gate, then workers can be employed and agriculture can be maintained easier than on Sera. Industry would rise up faster than it would currently, and there is the added bonus of expense. Rebuilding Sera is expensive and takes a lot of manpower, more so now that we barely have any fuel to scrape by. Everything is done by hand, and some buildings are just to battered and beaten to repair, and too costly to demolish, so we build around them. Cracked and flooded sewer systems make it hard to traverse the underground and whatever else we have to do is ever worse off. Sometimes having a foundation doesn't mean building the house is going to be easy, especially if the foundation is broken and cracked."

Both Marcus and Anya listened intently. Both of them had came to the same conclusions as she did, due in part to Anya's genius and Marcus upbringing in a scientific household, and both had already recognised the severity of the situation. It was clear to both of them that they wouldn't see a prosperous Sera in their lifetime, nor would their children and the generation afterwards. It would be a long time coming before Sera was even a shadow of its prime, and till then it would be continuous hard work. Knowing this, it wasn't hard for Marcus to imagine that people wanted to cut tail and run to a better place.

"However, just recently, about two dozen Gears died fighting what the people in Falmart- the other side of the Gate -called a _Flame Dragon_ ," Viktor stated, "And just to get a load off it, apparently one of the refugees the 26th RTI managed bring up is a magician, able to use _magic_." Marcus glanced at Anya, and their disbelieving faces only gave way to partial acceptance. Marcus had seen wacky shit in his day, and had learn to accept most things without nary a response. If Dom was here, Marcus imagined he would crack a joke about it, or if Baird and Cole were here, they'd have a go at making sarcastic jokes before realising that Viktor was being completely honest. Fenix glanced to his hands and sighed, sometimes he missed his old squad more than he would admit.

"It's clear that the world of Falmer, applies with it different rules and understandings than we do," Aleyna admitted, "It's a depth of field that we are not used to, and are currently trying to figure out ourselves. While Falmart would no doubt be a fantasy to some, it could also be dangerous."

"That's not the only problem," Viktor stated. "A Stranded Organization lead by Lyle Ollivar is trying to get through the Gate as well, wanting to declare sovereignty from the USG and create his own nation on the other side of the Gate. We've been keeping a tight lid on the Gate, with Onyx Guards watching the outside and inside, and on the _other side_ , to make sure nothing uninvited makes it through."

"Lyle Ollivar?" Marcus groused, "That sack of shit again? Didn't he die for just being him?" Viktor huffed, wishing that were true himself.

"Not in the slightest, instead he took his Lesser Islands Free Trade Association and turned it into the Republic of Free Vectes, and has occupied territory in the northern parts of the Lesser Islands," Viktor stated, "We have the Gears in Falmart on the lookout for RFV spies or agents hoping to disrupt the current politics and possibly rout our forces from the area."

Aleyna nodded her head, "I'm afraid the idea of a United Sera had slipped from our fingers again, and an opposition has risen. Lyle Ollivar still blames the COG and Gorasni for the actions of the Hammer of Dawn, and has managed to convince several Stranded groups to join forces with him. Technically speaking he outnumbers us, but no doubt, he is facing the same economical and practical issues we are, and he can't have his people live on ships forever. Eventually we'll come to a head, each for the Gate."

"So you want us to deal with the RFV?" Marcus asked, a sour note in his voice. But Aleyna shook her head in the negative.

"The Gears would be more than enough in handling the RFV, and we have no shortage of guns unlike our time during the Human-Locust War. No, what we have to speak about relates specifically to the other side of the Gate," Aleyna stated. This time neither Marcus or Anya could follow. "You know of the Empire, the ones that attacked New Jacinto Plaza. While the USG and the Gear forces do not consider their transgression an act of war, there is no doubt they do."

"Killing 120 000 men would do that," Viktor commented. "Of course they started it."

Aleyna nodded her head, "Indeed, and I'm afraid that the Empire really doesn't understand who it is they are fighting. All the better if that happens. Right now, we have the RFV and the USG fighting for dominance to be able to reap the benefits of Falmart. But because our position in Falmart by itself is weak, if we somehow lose control of the Gate, then the RFV would be able to claim the area beyond the Gate as their own." Aleyna finished her cup of coffee and set it down on the table. "We need allies, and our 'war' with the Empire is helping us as well as being a detriment us."

"It's helping us because we can decipher the current political climate of the world, no doubt witht his Empire at its dominance, and its being a detriment because we are wasting resources on an otherwise harmless enemy," Anya surmised, "With that being said, we're not looking to ally ourselves with the Empire, but to seek a period of peace?"

Aleyna nodded, "We need to establish ourselves with the locals, integrating ourselves as a part of their economic structure. Furthermore, we must limit the technology that travel through the Gate to mundane items, to make sure that lethal weaponry capable of upsetting the balance of the current political climate doesn't interfere with our negotiations. We need the war with the Empire to end and open up negotiations, as well as allying ourselves with surrounding kingdoms."

"You're looking to create a second political power," Anya stated, "One where the USG is partnered with smaller nations to become an equal counterpart to the Empire. Forcing a stalemate in political power, and that even if the RFV manages to occupy the Gate, the new political power would reject them and ultimately declare war on them."

Aleyna, "Due to Falmart's circumstances it is impractical to think we could accomplish anything by ourselves as we rely solely on the Gate for resources and manpower. But if we can pool together a power base and be able to gain peace with the Empire, we can drastically shift the chess pieces to our favor, for being able to stall what is no doubt a conquesting nation and develop an economic and military power house on the other side. We would cement our position in Falmart," Aleyna stated. "That's why the Gears in Falmart are given strict orders not to share any privy information relating to their armor, weapons, and vehicles unless expressedly told to do so or to confirmed allies. In the end this is a precaution to the RFV, and to give our settlers a fighting chance in Falmart."

"That's a very ambitious plan," Anya stated, "I find that most of your goals are very ambitious, Chairwoman Newt."

"Realistically speaking, the plan is very hopeful. It would take years at best to be able to achieve that with any modicum of stable control, and tensions would run high between us and them, especially after their numerous casualties to our complete zero. Only under very, very, _very_ , certain factors would be able to achieve all of it without any problems overall," Aleyna stated. "Because of the difficulty of the claim, we need the very best we can muster to be able to achieve any results in my current tenure as Chairwoman for the next five years to build this power base."

"So you want me to go?" Anya, already beginning to understand what would be asked of her. Marcus immediately tried to put a lid on it.

"Absolutely not, we're done fighting wars and pulling the government weight!" Marcus stated. BUt before he could say anymore Anya placed a hand on his and smiled reassuringly at him. Marcus hesitated, not knowing what she had planned but trusting her all the same.

"Of course, both you and Marcus will be compensated with payment and any expenses paid for. Most of the current politicians were formers frontline soldiers, or inexperienced Stranded, and your about the only one we can find in present and past records able to take the job without adverse problems. My cohorts as well agree," Aleyna said.

"Will it only be me?" Anya asked. "What about Marcus?"

"He could be useful and actually give a damn about the RFV," Viktor groused. Marcus shot him a glare, but neither men were built to back down to a challenge it seemed. Though both knew that Viktor didn't want Marcus back into the Gears, because whether he admitted to it or not, Marcus had earned his rest.

"Nothing else would be required of Marcus, and if the negotiations hold through, he would be given free reign to build a ranch in the rich-soil of Falmart. Probably become the first ranch owner from Sera on Falmart. We'll even exempt you on operating taxes," Aleyna stated. Marcus frowned, gave Anya a once over, and grimaced when she nodded her head. She had accepted the deal already, and Marcus knew it was like that. Like her mother, Anya took dedication to the state seriously, while Marcus had always prided himself for watching over his fellow Gears.

"That would help us a lot," Anya stated, "Xel could work on this ranch on his own while we set up a new one in Falmart, maybe hire in some new helpers along the way." Marcus didn't comment on anything, but inwardly he admitted that it was a good idea. It would help meet quota better and he wouldn't have to worry about not being able to pay rent. Still...

"I just want to make this clear that this isn't about fighting a war right? What exactly would you want from Anya?" Marcus asked. He didn't trust that the Gears wouldn't try and shirk out from a deal if it meant getting extra boots. No matter what they said, now that the RFV existed and some Stranded communities wanted to go independent, filled combat boots would be needed.

"She'll be negotiating on behalf of the USG. Like I said we don't have enough experienced politicians with us, and Anya has combat experience as well as high-test scores that qualify here to work in an active combat-zone. When negotiations have been established and standardized, I will personally begin to take part in the negotiation process," Aleyna outlayed.

"We already have an impressive bargaining chip," Viktor stated, "The people we captured from the initial raid have yielded information. We have the names of several 'nobles' among the captured raiders, and plan to use them as a crutch to open Peace negotiations."

Marcus screwed his face in distaste, "Torture and interrogation."

"Nothing to that extreme," Viktor grounded out. "Just what was needed, is all."

"Enough, Marcus," Anya stated, holding Marcus' hand. "It'll be fine, promise."

Marcus sure hope so. "I'll clean up the mess if there is one, then."

0oo **A Tomorrow for Us** oo0

Lelei watched quietly as the 'Gears' patrolled the area where the Koda refugees were going to live in. There were a few refugees, numbering at fifty total, with most of them being displaced children, injured adults, to those who have nowhere to go. There had been a brief scuffle between the Gears who had returned from the fight against the Flame Dragon and the Gears inside their base, but then an elderly woman had arrived and started shouting, causing everyone to quieten down.

It was easy for Lelei to surmise that the woman held a high rank in their military, which was a new concept for Lelei. Women serving in the military was rare, even rarer that they held any position of note beyond being of royal or noble blood.

The Gears had set up what they called 'prefabs' and had already built one for the children and the was amazing how fast they could construst a proper stable home, with _indoor_ plumbing and water. It was near magical in and of itself. As it stood most of the refugees were spending the time cooking food by using ingredients provided by the Gears. Rory Mercury was playing with the kids, and she wasn't surprised to see the tribal looking man close to her, having garnered her attention he had been dragged to wherever she wanted to go.

The other refugees were constantly being escorted by Gears, citing immediate help and security concerns when prompted. Lelei herself was accompanied by a the same young man that she had caught staring at her in the convoy. Derrick, the youngest looking Gear among those she had already seen, was standing behind her at a respectful distance. Lelei noticed how he kept staring at her hair particularly.

With him always close by, Lelei took that as a chance to question him on things that she wanted to know. She asked him what a Gear was, and he explained it as 'a cog in a machine that works together to achieve a desired result'. Confused, she asked why the soldiers called themselves Gears and he answered, 'we are Gears to the USG, entities working together for the benefit of the USG'. It was easy for Lelei to understand then, especially how some of the Gears wore masks that concealed their faces and made them one among hundreds of others.

The Gears were an army that abolished independence for mutual dependence, like the Empire did. Except, the Gears believed themselves to be separate to their government, while at the same, working to the benefit of it. Mutual dependence.

Today though was a slow day, and most of the refugees took to staying indoors while the Gear escorts stayed outside watching for any unwanted guests. While they did however, many of the people inside the prefab were currently uncertain to their future fate. There was no doubt that the villagers owed the Gears a large debt and in the future they would have to repay it once they started demanding compensation.

The women were afraid they would be turned into whores, and the men were afraid of being turned into slaves. The fact that they went out of their way to give them as much comfort as possible made the price all the more steep. Lelei too was wondering just how she could pay them.

"This is a tough position we are in," her master Cato said, "No matter how you look at it, these Gears have right to our lives and can do with them as they please. It would be nice if we could support ourselves financially for now."

"We could seek work?" One of the male villagers said, "I'm sure they'll have some use for us as errand boys. We don't necessarily have to sell our women to them!"

"Face it, even if we work for a lifetime we can never pay back what they've done for us," one of the females despaired. It was strange to speak that way about your saviors, but gracing hands didn't reach down for free, and nobody in the group of villagers truly believed that they would be spared if they didn't pay up.

"I'm sure we could give them something beyond that," Tuka stated, "We'll never know unless we ask them if they have any work for us." Tuka, the forest elf, was probably the one that had received most of the Gears attention. As an elf, Tuka was used to prying eyes, but the Gears looked at her strangely for days on end. It got worse when Tuka would wander around looking for something, and one day one of the Gears had burst on her asking why she was loitering. She told them she was looking for her father who had been separated from him during the 'Flame Dragon' attack, and then the Gears suddenly took a complete one-eighty in the way they treated. The Gears that didn't wear helmets always shot her sympathetic looks, but none talked or dared take a step towards here, and those that did never managed to get far with the very delusional elf.

The odd behaviour of the Gears puzzled Lelei greatly, and she wondered if loss and death was common where they came from. They seemed to depict it quite a lot on their uniforms and metal carriages. The skull strapped in the middle of a cog. It was the oddest symbol that Lelei had ever seen.

"What are we going to do?" One of the women cowered. Lelei blanched herself and glanced out the window to see Rory Mercury playing with the kids, and the black tribal man behind her, arms crossed over his chest, and a small smile on his face. Lelei wanted to ask what she would have done, but taking to the famed Reaper was a scary thought, and she was slightly captivated with the relationship the tribal man seemed to have with the Reaper. She would constantly seek him out, and he wouldn't deny or obliged her, merely followed along while doing his own work and tending to his own men. He was very good with the children too, and gave them snacks and treats.

"Perhaps they do not seek a reward?" Lelei interjected, "They have done nothing to suggest that they are here to conquest and may be here solely to do battle with the Empire. If so, then why would they go through the trouble of assisting Empire citizens such as yourselves? There is no doubt that they are a military, but they don't seem overly concerned with expanding their territory and attacking the adjacent kingdoms."

"That would be a nice thought wouldn't it?" Somebody muttered, "But life is rarely that easy. They'll probably want us to give them information or something. Maybe they might even use us as spies."

"That wouldn't be so bad," somebody said bitterly, "It's not like the Empire has ever done anything for us." Before anybody could comment on that, the children that had been playing outside quickly ran into the room, followed closely by Rory Mercury. She seemed off-put and slightly annoyed, but otherwise interested in the current going ons.

Lelei heard the door open up again, and turned in time to see another woman enter the room, followed by the tribal man and the elderly woman. The man had his back straight and was standing at attention by the door, while the elderly woman and the blonde haired woman stood comfortably next to each other with an air of authority around each of them. This made Lelei wonder if they ran by a matriarchal society. Some elven villages living near the sea did the same, and various tribes have taken to having a female elder rather than a male one. "Good evening," the blonde haired woman said, her accent slightly strange but otherwise decipherable. "How are all of you?"

The villagers looked at them with terrified expression, wondering if today was the day they were expected to pay up and whore out. With no one brave enough to step forward, her master Cato stood up and while leaning heavily on his walking stick started making his way towards the blonde-haired woman. Lelei was slightly surprised her teacher did not leer on the woman. "I am the eldest here, and I shall speak as a spokesperson for the refugees," Her master said The woman looked down at him and smiled, bringing her arms forward and showing the reason as to why her master had not taken the time to appreciate her figure. There was a ring on her finger.

"My name is Anya, Anya Fenix, to what may I call you?" She asked politely. Her features were much different than the woman in Falmart and her curvy figure was lean and lithe, showing that they were more muscle than woman. Her face, while rough and roguish, did not sacrifice femininity and her short bob of blonde hair only gave more credence to her unique sense of beauty. It was no stretch that when Lelei glanced at the rest of the refugees, some of the men and women had already become taken with her.

"Cato El Atlestan, Sorcerer and Certified Master," Cate stated, his voice now losing some years and speaking with strength not uncommon in his youth. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Anya."

It was to be expected that she was a noble, there was no doubt that she was a noble. The way she dressed was different than how the elder woman next to her did, and the way she walked and talked was much different. It dictated a different breed, and it was safe to assume she was a noble. The woman smiled, as though she found something funny, but didn't deny or accept the claim.

"The feeling is mutual," Lady Anya stated, "I do hope your stay has been most accommodating and has not brought with it any grievances?" The way how she enunciated some words and how she paused mid-sentence to think showed that she was still new to speaking the language, but the fact that she could speak at all was amazing in its own right. Since she had arrived only three days ago.

"Yes, you have been most gracious," Cato stated, and now the dreaded question was about to arise and everyone in the prefab sucked in a breath. "But I'm afraid no one here is capable of paying you back for your kindness. Please, we ask that you are kind to us, and that we would do anything in our power to you back if you give us time." Cato bowed his head slightly, and the woman and men behind him gulped audibly, unsure as to what to do if she were to deny them that.

Lady Anya seemed confused and glanced at the elder woman by her side for a moment. The talked for a moment, words that no one knew the meaning to flying by faster than they could comprehend, and Lelei had kept hearing the words _Bernie_ being mentioned over and over. She surmised that Bernie was the name of the 'Woman who led golems'.

"No, it's quite alright. If you wish to repay us back, then you can take all the time in the world." Lady Anya stated and all the people in the room suddenly adopted sighs of relief, but Lelei could understand that Lady Anya had arrived asking for something else in particular. "However, if you forgive me for being so bold as to ask, may I gain some information on the currency you use?"

"Currency?" Cate muttered in surprise. "Ah, yes, of course. Falmart runs on coins that have varying levels of precious metals in them. There are the Denarii silver coins and the Soruda silver coins, due the latter only goes to soldiers. The coins used mostly for commercial purposes is the Sinku gold coins and the Suwani gold coins are used more in savings and funds, as they are valued higher."

"So generally speaking, your currency goes from silver to gold?" Lady Anya asked.

"In essence, yes." Lady Anya and the Bernie woman glanced at each other and nodded for a moment.

"What exactly can you sell here in Falmart? Is there a trade or barter system?" Lady Anya asked.

"If the given circumstances demands it, yes. You can sell most things perfectly fine, ranging from animal pelts to weapons to metals. As long as there is a need for it, there is a market for it."

"What about Dragon Scales?" Lady Anya asked. The group there turned to her in surprise, wondering why she had asked that. Maybe they had planned to go back and strip the Flame Dragon of its scales, but those scales were so huge that they wouldn't be sold anywhere.

"Most dragon scales go for about 13 to 17 denari each, with each denari being able to pay for a single family unit for 5 days," Cato replied, wanting to express that even if a denarius was at the lowest scale, it was still a lot of money. "However the Flame Dragon scales are too huge for medicinal or commercial use, and would likely not sell in any market."

"That is fine," Lady Anya stated and waved a hand forward. A Gear strode forward, this one being the freckled face one that had his eyes on Lelei during the convoy migration, "We were looking to sell these dragon scales in particular, which we had acquired from our fallen enemies." The entire collection of people nearly dropped their eyeballs when a hefty bag of dragon scales was dropped onto the ground.

Anybody could get filthy rich from that sum alone, and the Gears had killed so many? "T-this is unheard of," Cato muttered. "H-how are you planning to sell this?"

Lady Anya placed her hands behind her back, a position that most of the Gears seem to favor, "Currently we do not understand the current markets and economic centers. As it stands now, we would like to ask if you have any insight on that matter. Of course, we would pay you a hefty sum if you would direct or guide us to the center in question. As you have said, with this amount, a hundred denarii for the information, and more if you are willing to guide us should suffice." Cato nearly choked on his spit, that much just for some measly information. That was an offer he couldn't refuse. "Also, if you would like, if the sales goes according to plan and we have money to spend, we would be willing to hire some of you as guides and such for our local forces to scout the area around us. We will pay you, of course, ten denarii a week would sound sufficient."

All at once there was an immediate ruckes as hands flew into the air, accepting the job offer for what it is. "Of course, Lady Anya. We thank you most graciously for this humble opportunity. I would suggest heading to Italica, I have a friend there who would be more than welcomes to sell your dragon scales. My apprentice Lelei La Lalena would be more than happy to assist."

"Of course," Lady Anya stated with a bow of her head. That shocked some of the people even more. A noble bowing his or her head to a commoner, even if it was Cato a famous Sorcerer, was almost unheard of. It should humility beyond understanding. They watched as the elder woman named Bernie made some gestures at the tribal man guarding the door, and he nodded his head.

He walked towards her and said, "My men and I will escort you there, Ma'am."

"Oh, then I will go to," Rory interjected, and the tribal man made a face. Lelei wasn't sure if she could place it but it was definitely that, a _face._ He turned towards Matriarch Bernie, and the older woman shrugged and said a few words. Lelei couldn't understand most of the words but she caught the words ' _importance_ ' and ' _advantage_ ' as well as ' _plus she has a fucking scythe and we don't really need to worry about her_ '.

"Alright," he finally said, "I'll only bring a few of my men so it's not like we won't have any extra leg room." He turned towards the freckled face kid, and switched languages again. " _Hey you're Derrick, right? Call Corporal Yash over here alright? I want him to know his in charge of refugees while I'm out on my sortie._ "

"Will you be joining us, Ma'am?" He asked Lady Anya. Lelei was confused, the tribal man had addressed the woman in the same he had addressed Lelei. Perhaps the translation didn't come out right, but either way, it was an interesting note to keep in mind.

"Yes, I will. As an economic center its the perfect place for the Gears to introduce themselves to Falmart proper," Lady Anya stated. Lelei looked at the woman, and immediately understood that the trip would be more than just cashing in a few (a lot) denari.

 **Internal politics, and external politics. RIght now I'm focusing on the USG and their problems with the current political climate in their world. I'll jump shift to the Empire next chapter or the chap after that, probably at least. Anyway, yea, that's it for this chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

Jace pulled back on his Lancer's ejection lever and stared down the barrell. Keeping his gun clean was always a pain in the ass, and the cool temperate air on this side of the Gate played hell on some of the pieces in his gun. He had to watch his fire, or else he risked warping the metal. He pulled the assembly of the underslung chainsaw back together and finished with a flourish of checks.

The rest of Recon-Two was cramped up in the Sea Raven with him, Anya, and the native escorts. He had eight Gears with him, and Yash was back at New Anvil Gate tending to the refugees. Corporal Dale was taking over as 2IC and the two of them exchanged brief glances as the Sea Raven continued to proceed towards their destination.

He glanced at Anya, still the same fiery woman he had met during the Locust War, and he knew that even in that dress suit she was more than capable of handling herself should trouble rear its ugly head. He turned to the girl Rory and felt his lips pull downward with a frown. He had remembered his time in an orphanage, being taken cared of by a Father, though of which of Sera's many religions he never knew. He had always taught Jace spirituality, and the belief of a higher power, than of any allegiance to a single faith. The girl, in some way, was also a Holy Figure in this world, of which was the strangest fantasies came to life. She was dressed in her 'Religious Garb' and wielded a scythe, while being give the name Rory the Reaper. There was no doubt, Jace thought, that the faith of Falmart was far stranger than he anticipated, but the young woman was powerful, absurdly so, and Jace had no reason to think he had to expend men for her safety.

Then that left the bluenette, who was sitting idly at the furthest wall, staring at everything in quiet stoic interest. She was the only real unknown on her fighting capability, but she didn't seem at all intimidated by the Gears or her new surroundings. Confidence? Or was it just her quiet nature? Nevertheless he assigned one of his men to watch over her.

The Sea Raven rocked, and Jace braced himself. He glanced at Anya and saw her nod. They were drawing near to their stop. He nodded his head and pulled his gun over his shoulder and drew his arm across his readiness strap. Then he tried to clean off any speck of dust on his uniform.

Anya had chosen to use a Sea Raven so that they didn't scare any of the villagers with a whole Wing of King Ravens bearing down on them with weapons pointed. The Sea Ravens had enough room to allow everyone inside comfortably, and would be able to handle the journey just fine.

The Gears all rose and formed a line towards the exit. Rory comfortably strode in between them alongside Lelei and Anya. Lelei lead the way though, Rory for all her confidence seem to allow deference to the bluenette and Anya didn't want to seem too eager by standing in front of their guide. They felt the Sea Raven making a one-hundred eighty degree turn, before it landed roughly on the ground.

The gangplank flew down, and the Gears filed out in an orderly fashion that would have put the Onyx Guard to shame with their parade efficiency. He glanced at the walls ahead of them, the wooden door, and the Knights standing guard atop them. At least they looked like Knights, but they all seemed so old in comparison to the young woman standing by their side, obviously as the commander.

Anya was speaking to Lelei about Italica. "Is this the place?" she ask.

Lelei nodded her head and gripped her staff tightly, "Yes, however the men there do not seem to be of Italica's guards." She watched them warily for a moment before turning to Anya. "They seem Imperial."

Jace stiffened his shoulders and pulled lightly on strap, noticing his men did the same. Major Nadi's explanation of the ROE flashed in his head. 'Fire only when Fired Upon.'. They weren't throwing arrows at them, and they only seemed to be watching for now. So Jace tried to keep his fingers steady.

"Oh," Rory murmured casually as she stared at the wall, "I think I recognise one of them, and she definitely recognises me."

It wasn't to see who she was meaning. The redhead with the look of terror on her face was the easiest person to spot. Both for her hair color, vibrant crimson, and the fact that the soldiers there seemed to be looking to her for deference.

"It seems your reputation precedes you, Apostle Rory," Anya stated.

"Just Rory is fine," she waved away nonchalantly. "I admit, I myself am impressed at such an assembly. It seems your own reputation precedes you."

Anya smiled tightly and made a motion with her hands. Jace left two of his men to guard the Sea Raven and took a step next to Anya as they made their way to Italica's front door. Rory trailed behind them with the bluenette a cautionary distance away as they stepped up to the closed wooden door.

"I am Anya Fenix, representative to the United Seran Government, and am here on a social and political visit. I humbly ask an audience with the Lord or Lady present inside Italica," Anya announced.

Jace tensed and stared up at the wall as the armored men and women glanced at each other in uncertainty. Jace glowered and tried to look intimidating, but he wasn't the biggest Gear in the Corp. He had always prided himself for being lean and spry, and that had resulted in him being of a very specific body type. Still, for those there, his eyes could have frozen hell over if he tried.

The doors swung open, and Jace looked down to see the redheaded girl walk towards them with a very rigid posture. It spoke of discipline, and refinery if Jace looked hard enough, and Jace straightened and stared just above her crown.

"I am Princess Pina Co Lada of the Empire, I formally welcome you into Italica on behalf of the Formal family head, who is currently awaiting your presence within the Citadel," the redheaded woman stated. Jace tried not to laugh at the fact that she was named completely after a fruity beverage, middle name and all.

o0o0o A Tomorrow For Us o0o0o

Pina Co Lada was the one of the daughters of one the Emperor's concubines. She was young, beautiful, and in some ways a well-known member of the royal family. More well-known than the other daughters of the Emperor. The advisors to her house had once said that was good thing that she had opened her Knight School when she was young, accepting young influential boys and girls and training them into her ideals and inspiring them as their leader. Her token Knight Order, while treated in such a light-handed manner, also gave her some measure of political power in the Empire. As the princess, and a hard-working one to boot, she had a deep understanding in the politics of her people, tempered with her new theatrical devotion to the values of honor and discipline she sought to instill in her fellows in her Knight School.

From the outside world, she was a foolish girl who tried to please the world by playing dress up. The princess who tried too hard to live out a fantasy. To her, she would give up everything for the Empire, not only for her own vision, but her own strict discipline.

That was why she knew her father had toyed with her, telling her that her Order was given the duty of scouting out their enemy on Anus Hill. That was why she tried her best not to be fazed by the stories of them killing a Flame Dragon. She kept silent, when the stories and rumors spoke of terrifying power and an 'Apocalypse Bringer' with some stating that they had a God on their side. In her heart she was filled with uncertainty and skepticism, but in her mind she kept a single devotion to the ideal of a Knight and the serving of one's country and people.

So she had traveled to Italica, stumbling across the terrified remnants of a few token soldiers of the Allied army. Reduced to nothing but simple-minded thievery and banditry in the face of their loss, babbling incoherently of fire and steel and monsters. She arrived on Italica to secure rest and food for her men before they made the final journey to Alnus Hill. That Hill where the Empire's new enemy stood.

And she balked when she heard a terrible sound in the air. Blades whipping the sky with tremendous strength and ability, and a near bloated metal Pegasi crested across the horizon and landed on the ground. It disgorged a band of giants, at least to her mind, who were armed more heavily than even a Praetorian. Tribal markings were evident on them, the savage looking blades of their strange staves gleaming under the sunlight, and a roguish blonde woman dressed in finery silk and clothes she had never seen before.

When she spoke, she said so with authority and a demand for audience. Pina knew that she was speaking to one of Noble upbringing, her looks fitting the image of a tribal matriarch, but her voice setting the pitch and tone of a well-mannered Lady. She was horrible confused, and the thought of a warrior princess flashed in her mind.

She gulped and steadied her nerves. "Do you think we can hold them off?" Pina asked the most experienced member of their Order, "Should they chose to attack us, do you think we could win."

"Have faith in your men, Princess," Gray answered, "But it's best if we don't tempt failure." He nodded at the men, their faces hid behind a mask except for a tribal looking dark skinned man. "They do not seem the sort to go down so easily."

"Right," she nodded. She eyed the metal beast behind them. It looked no different in purpose from a Wyvern but she still felt some dread looking at the beast. What surprises could it do? The rumors spoke of terrible creatures capable of flight and tremendous power, spitting small comets and fire into the sky strong enough to hurt a Flame Dragon. Caution was a good exercise of leadership, Gray had once lectured her, and Pina would take the advice. "Open the door, I will greet them. Hamilton you may stand with me."

The young brown-haired woman standing next to her nodded and squared her shoulders. She was dressed in formal blue robes of the Royal seamstress design, acting as Pina's secretary and assistant. "Of course, Princess Pina."

"The archers will be ready in time," Gray told her, "This reminds me of the wars I've fought, what I would not give for one or two sorcerers to provide assistance."

Pina had never fought alongside sorcerer's, and so could not comment on his words. She saw little use in the long and arduous practice of magic, when modern technology was so easy to emulate their effects. She supposed, in a purely academic standpoint, they held more meaning. "Stay vigilant," she ordered. He nodded and turned back to the Knights.

"Stand tall," she said and she went down to greet the Noblewoman. The townspeople that normally operated the doors when the soldiers were out glared at her as she stood at the door. She showed no indication to seeing them, but she knew their glares were there. So few places seem to have love for the Empire, she thought sadly. The doors opened and Pina gulped as she saw Rory the Reaper there, the biggest threat in her mind to the safety of the Empire should she have decided to ally herself with the foreigners. The armored soldiers stiffened and Pina stepped forward to greet the Noble standing there.

It was strange to send a woman to broker contact, but the rumors also spoke of how they had women leading soldiers into battle, fair women of foreign features and sharp tongues, and some spoke of how they ran by a Matriarchal society. She wondered, as opposed to an Emperor or King, they instead had an Empress or a Queen.

"I am Princess Pina Co Lada of the Empire, I formally welcome you into Italica on behalf of the Formal family head, who is currently awaiting your presence within the Citadel," Pina said and noticed how the tribal man's expression stiffened at that.

"I am Representative Anya Fenix," she said arbitrarily. An inviting smile, one that promised friendship or war, Pina couldn't tell. _They would be wise to not provoke the might of the Empire's war machine_ , she thought, _broken the army may be but strong we still stand._

Pina noticed how she kept her hands to her side, even though it twitched a moment ago in some instinctual movement. "Your presumptions would make you arrogant. To so nonchalantly appear under the guise of peaceful interaction after such a declaration of war."

The woman smiled thinly. "You seem to ignore that the Empire was the one that attack first. The USG merely retaliated."

 _With the destruction of the Allied Army_ , Pina thought. She kept it to herself though, to avoid an indirect gratification of the enemy's attacks and to maintain the image that the Empire hadn't been dealt a harsh blow. "In light of such retaliation, it is obvious that our two states are under war. With the battle of Alnus Hill, we are vindicated should we decide to take you and your men as prisoners of war."

The tribal man tensed and Pina prepared for if she needed to pull her sword out and defend herself from the bulky and impractically designed halberd. She wondered just how these people had destroyed the Allied Army using such preposterously designed weapons.

"From what we understand, this is territory directly under the Formal family and has no direct correlation with the Empire. That is to say, Italica is sovereign territory, and you have no jurisdiction to take us into custody."

"You also killed a massive number of the Italica garrison. Resulting in the massive withdrawal of soldiers back to the Citadel, and leading to the increase of criminal activity."

"Ah, indeed, yet the Lady or Lord of Italica have yet made their presence known. Am I to presume that in light of their weakness, you have merged Italica with the Empire," Lady Fenix said matter-of-factly.

"You presume too much!" Pina snapped. She recoiled suddenly at her own outburst and realised she walked into the foreign lady's trap. "Countess Myui merely defers to my authority as the Royal Princess."

"So it would seem," Lady Fenix said, "Regardless I am here under peaceful intentions to discuss with the Lord or lady of Italica. I understand your leverage over the Formal family as the Royal Princess, and indeed I recognise it, however I am under business to meet with the sovereign ruler of the territory around Alnus Hill."

"Would that indicate you would discuss terms with Elbe, League, Alguna, and Telta?" Pina asked. The blonde woman blinked before stating:

"I am not at liberty to discuss those particulars with you." Pina frowned and nodded her head tightly at that. Lady Anya seemed to be growing irritable under her scrutiny, and even Pina grew tiresome with their verbal sparring, She knew she couldn't do much more, as indeed, if she were to act on her own will and arrest these people without the permission of Countess Myui, then she risked undermining her authority. The Senate would not doubt have to side in the releasement of the prisoners to maintain their relations and image with the Vassal states.

"I will take you to the Citadel where you make speak with Countess Myui," Pina finally relented. "However, due to Countess Myui being so young, and having taken on the duties of her father, the late Patriarch of the Formal family, I will be standing in as a temporary guardian in the meeting."

A look on confusion and apprehension appeared on Lady Fenix's face and she asked tentatively, "How old is Countess Myui?"

"Eleven," She said. Curiously, a horrified look appeared on Lady Fenix's face as she heard that, only to be hidden behind a calm mask just as soon and as fast. The guard standing next to her could not control his expression that well, and his look of terrified guilt was as clear as day for Pina to say. She wondered about their reactions, as previous evidence would go to show that they preferred matriarchal societies. Perhaps it was the age? But then all those of Noble birth should be expected to take up their duties at any age, no matter the circumstances.

With these thoughts in her mind, Pina carefully guided the representative and her escorts into the Citadel.

0o0o A Tomorrow For Us o0o0

Lieutenant Commander Apley frowned as he watched the RFV Fleet holding steady several kilometres away from his Heavy-Class Frigate, the USS _Seamus_. He stood ramrod straight as he stared defiantly at the large navy vessels across from him, prepared to make the call to action if the need ever arise.

Over the past few days, lines had been drawn into the ground as USG forces and RFV forces tried to determine themselves from each other. Ever since then, the USN had been mustering up any duty worthy vessels into Task Force Maverick to help punctuate their borders with some serious firepower.

"What do we got?" Apley asked the Sonar Officer.

"It's still the same, Commander," the Sonar Officer replied, "The submarines are still holding steady at the five kilometre mark. They've been joined by a bigger class of submarine though, an _Orca_ class or maybe an old rusty _October_. We'd have to get closer if I was to decipher the sound."

"Unless the Admiral gives us the word, we stay right here Ensign," Apley stated. "Weapons, are our guns still within range of that Destroyer in front of us?"

"Our weapons are still locked and loaded, Commander," Weapons replied. "If they even think about firing, we'll be ready for them."

"Weather's been kicking up, Commander," Science spoke up, "We may be looking at harsh storms coming up soon. We may need to double back to Port Heeley soon, the Seamus wasn't designed to take rough waters so well."

"We'll make the call when the storm comes," Apley nodded to her.

"Commander," the Communications Officer stated, "We've got Admiral O'Brien on the horn." Apley blinked in surprise at the Admiral calling him directly, before nodding in understanding. He carefully made his way through the tight gaggle of Officers in his bridge before stepping up next to the Comms Officers and pulling the transceiver up to his ear.

"Admiral O'Brien, this is the USS _Seamus_. We are reading your transmission loud and clear," Apley said to the COMM line.

"Roger that, _Seamus_ ," Admiral O'Brien stated, "You are being reassigned to Task Force Xenonaut. Report back to Port Heeley and prepare for reassignment." Apley couldn't help but blink incredulously as he registered that. Task Force Xenonaut were a series of ships that were being dismantled and transported to the other side of the Gate to be reassembled and placed on the 'Blue Sea'. The ships were being confined to Light-class ships as anything higher were either too costly or too big to transport to the other side.

"Are you sure, Sir?" Apley asked, "The USS _Seamus_ has a damaged engine, and is too large for a full delivery through the Gate."

"Those are the orders, Lieutenant Commander," Admiral O'Brien said roughly, "They want an escort to watch over any exploratory missions they commit to on the other side of the Gate. From what I hear they've only uncovered a small portion of the worlds map, and apparently it's bigger than our planet."

That had Apley stunned for a while. "Roger that, Sir. The USS _Seamus_ will report back to Port Heeley soon, Sir."

"Over and out," Admiral O'Brien said.

"Helmsman, make a roundabout back to Port Heeley," Apley ordered, and was given an affirmative as the ship turned around and away from the Defensive Line to head back to the Port. The USS _Kelly_ was moving up to take her place on the line, and Apley nodded empathetically to her as he passed on the duty. "Alright, set it to full speed. I want to be back on Port Heeley by the end of the day."

"Aye, Commander," the bridge chorused. As they traveled across the sea, pushing against the tides of the water, Apley couldn't help but wonder why his ship had been chosen to go to the other side. He had served in the Pendulum wars on a Frigate, but naval battles were few and far between, and were constrained to mere land bombardments. They only real action the Navy saw was during Aspho Fields, and they only just received adequate funding and suddenly having attention was a jarring experience as well. He mulled the thoughts over as his Sonar Officer called out to him.

"Commander, I'm picking up something. It sounds like the impeller to a civilian recreational boat, but there's also the rough semblance to a school of fish," he said.

"What is it, Ensign?" Apley asked, experienced patience filling his tone.

"It's a faint sound coming from Point Four-Five of the Deadman Zone, and it's strange. It doesn't sound artificial, but it's not natural at all."

"Could be dolphins," Tactical remarked.

"No, they sound different, and I'm not tuned in onto those higher frequency bands," Sonar replied. "Recommend we inform the fleet, Commander."

"Comms, you heard him," Apley said.

"Maverick command this is USS _Seamus_ , reporting an anomalous signature detected at Point Four-Five of the Defensive Line position, over," the Comms Officer said.

"Roger," the reply came, "Interrogative, do you have eyes on them?"

"Negative, we do not have eyes," the Sonar Officer handed him some information on a paper, "Be advised, the signature is holding position just outside the Defensive Line."

"Roger USS _Seamus_ we'll keep our eyes peeled," Maverick command replied. The line died and the Comms Officer placed the transceiver back.

"Commander?" The Sonar Officer asked, "We should investigate it. The signature is something completely new to the sensors!"

"We're not here to sate your curiosity Ensign," Apley said sternly, "It's been reported to Maverick command and they will do with what they will. We have our reassignment orders, so I don't want to hear anymore, alright?"

"Understood," the Sonar Officer said sullenly.

"Cheer up, Davis," Tactical, a young spry woman named Naomi, said to him.

"Thanks," Davis replied as he pulled his Sonar headset over his ears.

Apley ignored them and concentrated on heading back to Port Heeley. But for some reason, a sudden feeling of dread filled his gut.

0o0o A Tomorrow For Us o0o0

Countess Myui was sitting on a laughably too large throne inside the Citadel. The small, young girl didn't seem right to be sitting in a place that would usually mean a heavy burden to those of soft-heart. Anya tried not to let a pang of guilt show in her face as she saw the small girl turn to greet her. Her eyes were vacant and shy, and didn't seem at all the vibrancy of youth that it should be.

On one side of the hall was a line of maids that were an odd mix of animal girls, while on the other side of the hall were the rest of Recon-Two. Jace was standing behind her, with Rory and Lelei remaining in the background for the proceeding of the political discussion.

"I welcome you, Lady Fenix, to Italica," Myui said quietly, "I must apologies as well. The actions of my late father have caused you grievances, and have no doubt led to your coming onto our lands. Nevertheless, I do hope our exchange will remain cordial."

"The USG graciously accepts, Countess Myui," Anya said in reply with a small smile, "While the USG has been acting in retaliation to the attacks on our Capital Jacinto, we do not seek conflict with you and your people, and would rather negotiate terms to peaceful co-existence."

"I see," Countess Myui said, her eyes closed. "I have very little to offer, I'm afraid, that could possibly result in an equal partnership. Due to the reduction in soldiers under my employ, I have been forced to withdraw my soldiers, and has thus resulted in my lands becoming infested with thieves and banditry. Before your arrival, I was discussing the possibility of Empire aid in stabilizing the region and protection under the Imperial Army. Princess Pina has been most understanding to our plight and I find her terms agreeable, if one-sided. Of course, this is against Alguna, Elbe, and League being incapable of assisting us, and our sister land Rondel having their own internal issues to be wary of."

Anya tilted her head back and eyed this girl in a new, more favorable light. Though she was young of age, that did not mean her tongue was no less sharp. She had just proclaimed that as it stood the only two people that she could reasonably negotiate with were the USG and the Empire, without insulting Princess Pina or Anya herself. She had skillfully laid out the most prevalent of her problems, and was no doubt waiting for Anya to match it with any benefits that the USG may be able to provide. Chairwoman Newt had allowed Anya to make whatever political decisions she saw fit in order to increase the USG presence on Falmart and Anya decided that she wanted this exceptionally capable young girl to be on their side.

"The USG can provide you humanitarian and military aid should you need. Our soldiers can be here in under an hour, and our experience in these matters have made us particularly useful in handling large zones with bandits and thieves," Anya stated, "Our men would more than happily assist you in maintaining the safety of Italica as well."

"Countess Myui," Pina interjected, her voice heated, "Surely you will not consider their words! This could lead to massive outcry among your people! The yuu-ees-gee had been the sole cause for the current situation and had turned many women into widows and children fatherless. These could result in massive public denial, or perhaps rebellion."

"Might I add," the Maid standing behind Countess Myui said while bowing her head in humility, "That the people of Italica also do not appreciate the Empire's presence. Indeed, in my young adult life, I had survived the Empire laying siege to Italica and many of the older folk, and even a large portion of their young ones, do not see the Empire in a very positive light."

"Fresh wounds that receive immediate treatment are more likely to make a full recovery, while those that are left to simmer and dry aren't," Anya stated.

"That is indeed a good point," Myui said quietly, "However I am regarding the issue of human emotions, and not the hypothetical question of human regenerative process. I would ask that we remain on topic." Anya bit her lip. Her effort in trying to have the Countess agree with the USG using something that she would be familiar with as a child had backfired on her, and she wasn't sure if she had lost this particular battle or not.

"The Imperial Army has faced casualties, and they may not be able to provide with as much soldiers as you may expect. Even then, these men cannot handle the bandits and thieves at the speed which we can. The USG, and its predecessor, was a peacekeeping force, and we've had to deal with post-war problems many times," Anya stated. "We would also like to open up trade with Italica, such as the import and export of goods."

Countess Myui nodded her head thoughtfully, "The income of foreign and exotic goods would be good for Italica's commerce," she said quietly, "However, these have unknown values and while they provide a certain allure, until further details are provided, I cannot agree to a mere promise of a trade agreement."

"The Empire provides you with fresh goods from Proptor, and our merchants provide you discounts for any produce as well as for weapons and armor used to outfit your soldiers," Pina interjected, "If you were to ally with the USG, you would remove such benefits from yourself."

"Indeed, those are good points," Myui stated, "However, you seem to forget that Alguna also provides us a supply of freshwater produce, and their cost for transportation is much cheaper than that of the Empire. But an embargo from Italica would do more harm to the Empire than it would Italica, as we still have business with Elbe and Alguna, with the League not far behind. Of course, they are currently experiencing destabilization."

"On the note of commerce. I have with me a bag of one thousand dragon scales that I am willing to sell to Italica, with more prepared to be shipped into Italica at a moment's notice," Anya stated. The room dropped silent, and both Countess Myui and Pina stared at her in shock.

"May I see them, please?" The Maid from before ask. Anya nodded and handed her the bag.

"These are Wyvern scales," she stated, "They are very well skinned, with barely any chips or impurities, and they are off high quality. From what I can discern, these are from the breeds of Imperial riders. Spoils of war, I might presume?" Anya nodded her head. "These would fetch a high price of ten denarii each."

"Our consultant said as much," Anya stated.

"Introducing such a large number of scales to the market would cause a crash," Myui remarked quietly, "However, the scales can be refined to more useful and cost effective produce. They can be used to make medicine, or armor and weapons, and can be sold or used by Italica. This is a very promising proposition, and would Italica receive them exclusively?"

"If the circumstances permit, and should Countess Myui be able to afford it, yes, I would imagine so," Anya said.

"The Empire would react in retaliation," Pina said, obviously desperate to hold the opinion of Countess Myui, "If you were to ally yourself to the enemy, the Empire will retaliate and attack you. Even with their help, you cannot possibly hope to hold out long against the tide of the Empire?"

"I do what I believe is best for my people, Princess Pina," Myui stated, "And I have listened to your proposals. Indeed, the Empire has long since been a trusted friend to the Formal family, but certain things have been called into question, and I am unsure if future partnership is wise. While the yuu-ees-gee have caused the death of my late father, their proposals are sound and carry benefits. I would ask for a recess, and that we would reconvene later after I have made my final decision."

"Countess Myui," Princess Pina said, looking at her with hopeful eyes, "I have long since regarded Italica as an ally to the Empire. You need only ask and the Empire would come to aid you, even I would right now should you choose to give me the chance. I wish only to do what's right for my people."

"Indeed," Myui stated, "As do I. However, I am wary of the consequences of accepting the Empire's help, Princess Pina. I do not go as far to say that you would do so, but I regard my people's identity to be their greatest treasure, and I fear that the Empire would handle such a thing with iron gloves. My decision, Princess Pina, is balanced on my late father's work, and I do not plan to undo it."

Countess Myui rose from her seat and dipped her head respectfully to Anya, to which she returned. She gave a small, sympathetic smile to Princess Pina and made to leave. The red headed female stared sadly at Countess Myui's back, and then glared at Anya discreetly before standing up and making her way to her quarters.

A human maid stepped up to Anya and the Gears, "Quarters have been prepared for you, Milady. I shall escort you there, should you be willing to allow me to lead you."

"Yes, thank you," Anya thanked.

0o0o A Tomorrow For Us o0o0

"You know, I've always thought crossing the border would be fun," Carmine commented as he pulled himself up the rock face. "But nope, I don't really like this border all that much."

Dmitri grunted from where he was climbing beside Carmine, "I concur with the Private, even the mountains of Grasni weren't such inconsiderate girls as this one is." The Gorasni grunted as he pulled himself up along his safety rope. "I fear I may have placed undue damage on my pride at having fallen twice in just under a minute."

"It's not so bad," Sam said cheerily, "I caught you twice." Dmitri made a bemused sound when he heard that.

"I would imagine the Lieutenant would not enjoy you hearing that," Dmitri commented.

"Baird? He's a little shit, but he can't decide over what I do. He just gets all snarky around me because he doesn't know how to acknowledge his feelings," Sam laughed.

"What, what, what! You and Baird are dating?!" Carmine said in shock.

"HAHA! You didn't know Carmine? Even my blind grandmother can see it," Cole yelled from the top, "And here I thought you were smart Carmine."

"How was I supposed to know?" He said, "They're always yelling at each other, and Baird always swears more around her too! That's not exactly a romantic thing to do!"

"Carmine, dear," Sam said sympathetically, "Swearing is Bairds way of affection." Carmine made a confused and exasperated sigh.

"Then is it my fault I can't understand crazy people talk?" He muttered, "I used to be normal. I used to have normal friends, and normal conversations, and have normal relationships," he said quietly to himself, "But no, join up with Delta team, that'd be so swell."

He grunted as he finally pulled himself up onto the pathway, "Oh my god, I feel like dying!" He grunted. He grabbed Cole's extended hand and pulled himself up to his feet just as Dmitri and Sam reached the top. "Please tell me we are high enough to start up scans?" Carmine begged.

"Well let's see, Carmine," Cole said as he pulled out the scanner that Baird had given him. He pressed the button on the top, and it started sending out geometrical lines out into the open and over the mountains. "Well, they're scanning alright. Not sure if it's picking up anything. Sam can you get Baird on the COMMs?"

"Some of the mountains are making it hard for the signal to bounce," Sam said, "The connections no good, I can't get a stable line." She shook her head. She glanced at Dmitri and tilted her head when he saw him crouched next to the mountain range with his rifle held up next to him. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes," he said gruffly, pointing at the ground, "People have been here before. There are markings all across the ground."

"I saw them too," Cole remarked as he grabbed his face, "Didn't seem to mind though. I mean, lots of people walk up mountains for fun, right?'

"Not these people," Dmitri said quietly, "They were in groups, files of two, with one at the front. Men and women, with some children mixed in. A migration perhaps? But for what purpose?" He asked himself. He didn't need to ask any longer, because an arrow nearly pierced his eye while he was thinking. In surprise, Delta team suddenly huddled close together with their Lancers out as a group of darkly skinned people, wearing some real BDSM clothes, were pointing arrows at them.

"Identify yourselves!" The man at the front yelled, "Do it now or we will attack!"

"Whoa, whoa! Take it easy, we're all friends, right? We didn't do anything, so you shouldn't to!" Cole said with a grin. The darkly skinned elves glanced at each in uncertainty but didn't lower their weapons. Cole just smiled and brought his weapon down and over his shoulder. "See? We're friends, Gears from the USG. We came from beyond this Gate looking thing that's that way." He jerked his head towards Alnus Hill.

As one the elves brought their bows down in muted shock. Carmine tensed, waiting for one of them to attack, when the youngest one of them made a high-pitched squeak. "You mean the ones that killed the Flame Dragon?" He said.

Cole blinked, and Carmine turned to stared at the young lad who literally had stars in his eyes. "Um, yea, we did it. I mean, I wasn't there, but yeah, the Gears did it. I think," Cole said. "They're talking about that thing that Alex and her boys killed right?" He said in uncertainty.

All of the assembled elves brought their bows and stared at them in wonder. In made Sam a little self-conscious at being given such stunned expressions. "What is it? What's wrong?"

The leader seemed to snap out of his revere, "You, you must come and meet the Chieftain!" He announced.

"Actually I'd rather we no-" Dmitri began only to be cut off.

"You don't understand," the leader said, "We've been terrorized by the Flame Dragon ever since it had awakened. We had been forced to leave Schwarz Forest because it was attacking us there, and had to flee to the safety of the mountains. When we heard the news of the Flame Dragon's death we had rejoiced for the first time in many days!" He said. "Please, we must repay in some way."

Cole glanced at everyone before nodding tentatively. "Yeah, alright, the Cole Train is always up for a party!"

 **I AM SO FUCKING PISSED. I had written so much words and Google Docs pissed on me and got rid of like half of it! Anyway, some thoughts on the chapter. This is where some diverging happens. For one thing there is no marauder attack because the Gears killed the remnants of the Allied Army, and because Pina isn't burdened by a Marauder attack, and because she has yet seen the power of the Gears, her initial impression of the USG is that beyond a few different surprises they aren't much different. Their guns can be passed of as some weird sword, halberd thing, and the Sea Raven and the King Raven, while undoubtedly beasts, only actually received merit when they started destroying shit. Like the helicopters in GATE, their destruction warranted pause, and Pina sadly did not get to see that. But don't worry she will.**

 **Because of this, the 'Battle at Italica' was more of a political one with words rather than guns. I need to justify Anya's presence after all. Plus its my own little headcannon that Myui is actually a very smart and intelligent girl, it's just the situation of the marauders didn't allow her to shine in the scene. But that's me.**

 **We get a little bit of this and that here too. The possibility of a fleet of ships on Gate side, and some other USG politics. The great thing about Falmart is that a very large part of it up for grabs. As far as we know, Alnus is smack dab in the area where the Imperial Capital is, and if you look at the map, the Imperial territory doesn't seem that huge. We may be missing some stuff, or the map might cut off, but for all we know, the Empire may not be as huge a place as we think it is. Because of the Mountains of Ice and Snow and Knappnai, there is a very real possibility that the Empire only stretches as far as the area around the Gate. Meaning that the Empire is actually really small, and I mean really small since League, Alguna, and Elbe exist that take up even more space! There's a whole shit load of land that hasn't been explored.**

 **Also to add, you won't be getting another update from me until the end of may, because I have O levels right now. In fact I have Chemistry tomorrow, (ARGHHH STOICHIOMETRY) and other stuff and, hahaha, I didn't study nearly enough. SO sorry, but you'll have to wait a while for the next update.**


	7. Chapter 7

Yash pulled his sleeves up over his elbows as he stood at attention behind Captain Frederick of the 12th Engineering Corp. Yash was providing technical and secretarial aide to the Captain now that the refugee camp was expanding to allow Seran travelers looking to open up farms and businesses on this end of the Gate.

"The Fenix Ranch is going over that hill," the Captain stated as he showed Yash the map, "It's still within patrol routes, and it's on top some fertile land, has alot of room for grazing, and it has a clear path to the Recreation and Market district for any purchases or sales." Yash nodded his head. Most of the jargon went over his head, but he understood that it needed to be said for the Captain's own ease of mind. They'd been working for hours, and it was honestly pushing some of the men to the edge with work.

"Some of the refugees reserved some land to build a pub and restaurant," Yash said, "Major Nadi wants to know if you've factored local interests with us?" Captain Frederick frowned.

"Well I'll have to now," he grumbled and scribbled something onto the map. Yash winced but stayed in place in case the Captain needed him again. Since the USG was looking to build a community on Alnus Hill, they were hoping for a mix of Seran businesses and native ones.

'An intermixture of cultures and exotic wares, to increase expenditure and profit that will help build a system of commerce to cement the USGs position' Major Nadi had explained. Yash understood it as just maintaining the status quo, balancing the sales and purchase to help both economies.

"Crap, the sun is setting," Frederick muttered as he nodded at the falling star. "Shit, we'll have to work through the night to keep up rate. You're dismissed Corporal Yash. I know you'll have to check up on those patrols."

Yash wasn't looking forward to the stack of paperwork and rounds he'd have to do. Since arriving to this side of the Gate a mass amount of NCO's got commissioned ranks due to redundancy, but that led to everyone scurrying around getting used to their new positions. Resulting in mass amounts of delegations as everyone worked to balance the load of paperwork, and resulting in Yash being given the unofficial duty as Refugee Aid Center's Secondary Consultant, which translated to 'Paper Bitch'.

"Yes, Sir," Yash remarked. He gave a salute and made a smart about face. His olive drabs protested with the moment, having been drenched with sweat, and Yash ignored it as he made a brisk jog towards the Technical Information Centre building.

As he ran, a troop of Gears were marching next to him, getting in their day's worth of exercise as they waited for another engagement with the Imperials. Yash recalled a few Gears spending time in the Psych Wards at their experience fighting the Imperials. Killing people _too_ easily was just as horrifying as _losing_ people the same way, Yash thought, and the Gears had experienced that plenty enough during the Locust war.

He nodded at them and they returned it evenly. After a while, he stopped when something caught his interest. A fellow Pesanga man was standing at the range, pointing and directing instructions to the blonde elf that they had rescued a few days ago. Curious, and self-conscious over his responsibility over the refugees, Yash made his way towards them as the Pesanga seemed to be talking animatedly to her.

"You shoot good, sah?" The Pesanga man, Marish, said as he gestured to the targets. Yash could clearly see that there were four arrows all in a neat circular shape at the center of the target. "You as good as Pesang!" He exclaimed. Yash smiled in partial embarrassment at Marish accent and how it was no different from typical Pesanga's speaking Tyran.

"Marish," Yash nodded in greeting to Marish. The Pesang man nodded back and grabbed Yash's arm. With traditional practice, Marish pulled Yash in and pressed his forehead on the Corporal's own. A denotation of respect, equity in position, and brotherhood.

"Brother, see the _Tor'ta_ and her way of bow. Better than Vash, better than Selin even!" He said enthusiastically. Yash grinned in bemusement at what Marish said. The Pesang language was old and was very traditional; they didn't even have a word for computer until their introduction with the COG and the rest of the world. Their language was choked full with homonyms that could be combined to create hundreds and thousands of different words, all of which can be used to denote the negative meaning to a phrase or vice versa. Marish had used the diminutive form of the word _Torva_ , the _Tor,_ meaning Forest and _Ta_ meaning Hunters. Thus, creating the word _Forest Hunter_ , a more unique phrase as compared to Torva de'var -which meant Forest Dwelling Nomads.

" _Sah?_ _Di'nayla Tor'ta Vi nukum'nya_ _vir Pesanga, (Really? I weep in joy for the Forest Hunter, a bow man worthy of the title far from Pesanga)_ " Yash said jokingly. Then he turned and grinned at the Elf who was glancing from both Marish and Yash in confusion. There was a look of concentration on her face as she noticed Yash looking at her.

" _Tai lai'ta vir'ga_ ," she said, carefully enunciating each syllable. Yash couldn't help the astonished smile on his face. _Greetings Hunter Brother of Far Lands._

" _Tai leh'ta vir'ga_ ," Yash replied, "You know Pesang?" He said in the native language. The young blonde woman nodded her head sheepishly.

"I've been learning. I don't understand the language of the other soldiers, the _Thai-rans (Tyrans)_ , but Pesang is very close to the _Elven Forest Language_ ," she said. " _Lai'ta vil'bor no'kri_ ," she said with a smirk. _Come to watch archery Hunter Brother._

"Very good," Yash said with an equally large smirk, "Show me what you can do, _leh'ta._ " The girl nodded her head and notched her arrow. Yash had to admit, her form was smooth and resembled the Hunter's Way of Bows. It was small, compact, and prided itself on accuracy and damage rather than endurance. She let go of her bow with a sharp exhale and the arrow flew across the range to land at the center of the target. Yash whistled, there was very little drop in the arrow, and it was clear that it was meant to drop game quickly and efficiently.

"Skilled, sah?" Marish said. "Good hunter, better than me!"

"What about a machete?" Yash asked and pulled his machete from his hip. The elf girl looked at it and frowned. She touched the side of the blade with a curious finger and she seemed to be appraising it with a keen eye.

"This is _jul_ , yes?" She asked. _Blade._

" _Jul'nok,"_ Yash corrected. _Death Blade_. "It's a machete, a _short blade._ " He said, using a more common word in the native language. "We Pesanga's use it a lot more than the Tyrans. Very useful," he said empathetically, "I used mine as a key to my house door."

"You can do that?" She asked tentatively.

"Make agents mad in process," Markish commented. He grinned, "But that is half of fun." The elf carefully examined the blade and pulled it from his grasp. Her grip was too tight, focused too much at the end, and it would affect the power of her swing and the balance of the weapon.

"No good," Marish said with a small smirk, "Not good at everything, eh?" He winked at the elf and she giggled at his playful nature. Yash realised that, unlike the Tyrans and Gorasni, the diminutive height difference between Pesangas meant that Yash and Marish were only an inch taller than her, letting them look at each other almost levelly.

The elf girl seemed to realise something and bowed her head in greeting to Yash. "My name is Tuka Luna Marceau, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Yash grinned and nodded his head. "Corporal Yash," he said in greeting. She smiled politely at him and held the compound bow tightly in her grasp.

"Your bows are very powerful and sophisticated. Their designs make it comfortable and more compact for use, but doesn't sacrifice the stability, and I've never heard of metal being used to make a bow," Tuka commented. "This could go for forty denarii apiece easily."

"That sounds expensive," Yash commented. He crunched the numbers in his head and figured that was close a thousand Seran Standard Dollars.

"That's enough to start a lesser nobles career," she said with wonderment. Yash rechecked the numbers and settled for something closer to five-hundred thousand.

"Math stuff hard, sah?" Marish murmured, "Wife better at it."

"That's because your wife's Tyran," Yash commented, "A smart educated Tyran." He looked up at Tuka who seemed to be admiring her bow. "Where did you learn how to use the bow?"

"Oh? Ah, we elves don't learn like how you humans do. We, uh, watch how people do things and over time we copy it," Tuka explained.

"Like a Pretender?" Yash said in surprise. "I have heard of those. They are rare and not many can emulate that talent."

Tuka nodded her head slightly, "Something like that I suppose." She gave Yash a beaming smile, "I watched my father use his bow and over time I picked it up."

The smile on Mirash face fell and he gave Yash a pointed look. Yash himself felt like a truck had slammed into him, and he was reminded that this same young woman had spent the past week searching for a father that obviously would never come. One look at her and Yash could already tell that her mind had repressed the memory, something he had seen happen before. But there were a lot of other factors that could beg to differ.

People like her usually never _saw_ the death, leaving hope - the greatest poison at times - festering inside. She could be wallowing in self-guilt but forced herself to imagine that her father had not died. Or she could have actually sustained severe head trauma that resulted in amnesia.

So many factors, symptoms to the ill, but no real cure beyond the self. "Yeah?" Yash said and nodded his head, "Where are you staying? It's getting late right now."

She glanced worriedly out into the forest, and it wasn't hard for Yash to guess why. Both Marish and him looked to each other and nodded. Marish stepped up and carefully took the bow back into his hands as Yash carefully escorted her back to the refugee camp. "Ah, no I can go by myself."

"It's quite alright," Yash replied, "It's my job." He realised belatedly that he still hadn't checked up on the patrols and signed off on his paperwork before it multiplied. But he figured this matter was more important.

Tuka walked quietly in front of Yash, her fingers playing quietly with her cargo pants and baggy PT shirt. Yash felt his palms sweat thinking about this situation, and knowing that a psychiatrist in her initial state would cause a negative reaction. She needed...a positive opening. Yash nodded his head, eventually people learn to deal with things and move on, and it's faster if the wound was dealt with quickly. He swallowed and realised that he really didn't want to try and do this, and resolved to talk to a Gear psychiatrist early tomorrow to see what could be done.

They reached the refugee bunk without interruption and Yash followed her until they reached her room. "Thank you for escorting me," Tuka said with a small incline of her head.

"It's no problem," Yash replied. He noticed an extra bed had been left out in the open, with a clean set of clothes laid atop it. He gulped, the implication settling into his gut like brimstone.

"Oh," Tuka said embarrassedly, "That's for my father. He's on his way here, see? So, I thought I prepare something for him."

"Your father?" Yash asked stiffly, "No one else?"

Tuka seemed to grow teary-eyed as she suddenly began to think about that. "I saw my cousin Yuno get eaten by the Flame Dragon, and the rest of my village was burning," she confided. "I...I had lost everything and then my father placed me in the well to keep me safe. I waited, but I knew he would come, I just guessed he was trying to escape the Dragon. Then you guys showed up," Tuka smiled at that, "I had been trapped there for a day or two at least. I wasn't sure I was going to survive long enough for my father's return. I never got to thank you people for that, and I'm sure my father would be grateful as well. Thank you, _lai'ta_."

Yash smiled softly and nodded. But there was an edge to his eyes. _That explained things_ , he thought. She wasn't just suffering from the denial of not seeing her father's death, but survivor's guilt, and her own hopeful delusions of her father's rescue due to her being trapped in that well. Yash knew, from his very heart, that all it would take was for some hunger and thirst, coupled with unfamiliar and uncertain territory, for the mind to start conjuring more pleasant dreams. Dreams that can confuse a person, that can _break_ a person. Dreams that can be the only thing a person could latch onto, just to survive the death and destruction of everything you once were and could have been.

If Yash had been listening however, he'd have been more wary of how she had called him _lai'ta_ and how she was quickly learning Pesang. He would have also noted how she had so calmly gotten used to his presence, to the point that she was comfortable about revealing her history to him. He didn't but eventually he would.

"It was a pleasure," Yash said, and added, "I look forward to our next meeting, _leh'ta._ "

Tuka smiled pleasantly at him, " _Da'douin_ _vare'kase Pesang buil_ ," she replied. _May Pesang never lose its life_ , a traditional Pesanga farewell _._ "I look forward to it as well, Corporal Yash." Yash nodded and quickly headed towards the Technical Information Centre building.

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

Anya quietly stood in the common room of the Formal house. Jace wasn't by her side, but then Anya had had extensive training to know how to defend herself should the need arise. She was still in the black suit and skirt of Representative Fenix, but she had spent years wearing heels as an Officer and she knew how to make those into a weapon. Unassuming they may be, but you'd be surprised how effective they were at puncturing a throat.

"Bernie, can you hear me?" Anya asked into the transceiver. It was night out but Anya was certained that the old woman was still awake and kicking Gears around.

" _Yeah, I hear you_ ," Bernie said over the COMM line. She sounded she had just chugged a mug of coffee down her throat

Knowing her, Anya could bet as much. " _What do you need, kid._ "

"I've made some political promises that I'll need you to back on," Anya stated and before Bernie could reply she continued, "I should probably have talked to you first but I was able to, hopefully speaking, an ally in Falmart."

Bernie grunted in the COMMs. " _It's fine. Politics is no different than fighting with guns, no matter what Hoffman says. You have judgement calls, I respect that. So what do you need me to pull?"_

Anya nodded, even though she knew no one could hear her. "Can you spare Gears for a mass search and destroy mission. I promised that the USG would help Italica in handling a bandit uprising and help patrol Italica borders while they bolstered their numbers," she said. "I also promised humanitarian aid, as well as a trade agreement."

" _I'll get a few teams on that,_ " Bernie replied, " _A lot of eager young boys and girls. Sergeant Alexandra wouldn't mind something to stretch her legs. I'll also see if I can wrangle a few Medcorp boys to deal with that humanitarian aid. On the case of trade, I'm not cleared with that. You'll have to talk with the Chairwoman._ "

"I have her go ahead," Anya stated, "All I'll need is transport."

" _Then I'll have the going-out teams deliver it the first chance they have._ " Anya nodded her head. It was a bit presumptuous, but if Countess Myui really did agree she wanted to make a good impression. Despite herself Anya couldn't help but smile slightly when she realised that she was trying her best to impress an eleven year old girl.

Anya sighed and straightened her back. "Thank you, Bernie. You might also need to spare some men for a temporary garrison in Italica."

" _Don't worry Anya. The Gears will get it done,_ " Bernie said, " _I have to go; paperwork. I'm starting to get why Hoffman hated his former rank._ " Anya sighed as the line dropped dead and slipped the transceiver into her pocket. She turned slightly when she heard a noise and caught Lelei standing at the entrance with a blank look on her face.

"I did not mean to interrupt," she said quietly. Anya smiled slightly and beckoned her inside. If she remembered well, and Anya rarely forgot or mistake facts, Lelei was something of a student. A very _young_ college student studying 'magic' and the 'understanding of the world'.

"It's alright," Anya stated, "I was just finished with my conversation." She gestured to the communicator in her hands and extended it to Lelei when she gained a glint her eye. She stepped closer to it and eyed it with a perceptive eye.

"I heard a voice come out of it," she said quietly, an intellectual tone to her voice. "Only dwarves could possibly build something like this, but it's too small."

"Dwarves?" Anya asked, "They've built radio wave transceivers and transmitters?"

Lelei only blinked at the new terms and shook her head, "No. Script magic," she explained, "A special pen is used to write on special paper. It is connected to an apparatus that is connected to a magical line that spans a whole network. You write on a paper, and the markings are then mimicked onto another designated paper connected to the line far away. Near instantaneous travel of words.," Lelei explained.

 _A fax machine_ , Anya thought. "Does the Empire have this technology?"

Lelei shook her head, "The Empire has bad relations with the Holy Karsic Empire, because of the battle at Karak Mapak, their stronghold at the base of Knappnai, the Dwarves have returned to their homeland, and the Empire has mostly denied their existence."

 _Another country?_ Anya thought. _Alguna, Elbe, League and now this Holy Karsic Empire._ She shook her head and squatted down to Lelei's height. "Well, this is a radio transmitter and receiver. It's difficult to explain, and I think Baird could get around to it much better, but what it essentially does is that it sends radio waves that have my words, vibrations that my voice makes, out towards a similar device that interacts with the radio waves and deciphers my words and convert it to sound. Like a Digital to Analog converter." She wasn't sure if her explanation was entirely accurate, she was a trained as a Technical Officer and had rough training as a Field-Commander, but not a Science Officer. Baird was more the mechanic and engineer, and Anya stuck with data and interpreting information.

"I see," Lelei said. She mulled over the words, and Anya could tell very clearly that the girl was not just understanding her words but seeing if she could replicate that knowledge to something usable in her own technology. "The concept is sound, but then it would require a deciphering spell capable of reading the incoming vibrations and then converting it to something that can be read. Regular thaumaturgy formulas don't have that level of sophistication. Elven magic? Or perhaps a system? Component pieces working together," she murmured under her breath. It was only due to the virtue of their surrounding being utterly silent that Anya could even hear her at all.

Anya smiled slightly and sat down as she watched the young girl quietly and with nary a change in expression began musing out loud the ability to do something like that. Anya felt that it was fine giving her this information, as it would take years of refinement and studying before anyone in this timeframe could come close to the radio's of her world. Not enough time to affect their political efforts in the now, and based on what the bluenette was saying, her radios would have fundamentally different applications than the USG's.

"Your knowledge is rather large," Lelei stated, "History is not my forte, but I would dine to say that your people would have had a long technological lifespan."

Anya smiled at that. That was true, in a technical sense, but then it was offset by Age of Armageddon, a millennium-spanning conflict that nearly destroyed Sera, and there was the Silver Era, the rise of the Kashkur and Gorasnaya Empires, and even after the Golden Age - the Era of Silence - there was a seventy-nine year war for imulsion and a fifteen year war with the Locust that resulted in thousands of extinctions. Their technology had been built under the principles of warfare, and even under peace they had so easily slipped back to destruction. It had brought their home, Sera, to ruin not once but thrice. Now they were scattered, broken, and rebuilding on a planet just as tired as they were. A planet just as close to dying.

Anya's face remained calm even with these thoughts, and a smile cracked her face. "We've lived long, yes. But we've blundered along the way many times, and perhaps we're still blundering. We earned our technology," Anya stated. But there was still a thought in the back of her head. One that screamed, _that merit destroyed Sera,_ like a curse.

" _The Allfathers_ ," Lelei said. Anya was surprised to hear her speak the native language of Tyrus, and the girl had a look of concentration on her face. " _The Octus Canon_. They say these words; your men. What do they mean?"

Anya couldn't help the astonishment and how quickly the bluenette had learned Tyran, and smiled in bemusement at her questioning. "The Octus Canon was the founding principles of the COG, and the Allfathers were the creators of the COG." Anya thought about that, and suddenly she couldn't help but feel a smile creep on her face. "Technically speaking, I am considered the Legacy of the Allfathers or at least my husband is."

Lelei blinked. "Your husband is the son of one of the founding fathers?"

Anya nodded her head, "The Fenix Family helped created the COG, and they had exemplified the COG way of life for many years. But, of course, the COG was disbanded in favor of the USG."

"I see," Lelei muttered. "Your family must be very powerful." Anya was about to deny that, but there was a point humility became arrogance. Now, more than ever, the Fenix Family was head and shoulders the most respected on Ephyra - perhaps all of Sera. Marcus had saved Sera, gone beyond and to the depths of the call of duty, and was rebuilding it as a ranch owner - and owning land was a stock trade of nobility. In a way, the Fenix family had a lot of prestige and political backing, and to deny that outright, Anya felt, was to say Marcus had never fought - not in the Pendulum Wars, not in the Locust War, and not during the Lambent Insurgency.

"To an extent," Anya finally agreed, "Bloodlines only go so far. Merit alone is a true worth of prestige."

Lelei nodded her head. She sat down on the couch and allowed herself to sigh. "Your people are very interesting," Lelei said, "Your technology vast. It...humbles me. It makes me want to learn more from you." She seemed troubled.

"You're curious," Anya replied, "You want to understand us, our technology, our way of life. You want to know." _Because you learn, you adapt, and you achieve_ , Anya thought, _like how we used to._

Lelei nodded her head, her face now adopting a hopeful look. "It interests me," Lelei said. Anya nodded her head, and the room descended to silence. Maybe when they get back to Alnus, she could arrange books and the like be given to the girl. Some knowledge, basic concepts of science and the like, could be dispensed without too much harm done. Anya had it in her head as well, that Lelei was not the builder type, but more of a theoriser and application minded person.

As they sat in silence, they failed to notice the redhead who had listened in on their conversation.

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

Pina waited patiently in the morning for Countess Myui to show herself. She waited and watched noblewoman, confirmed as nobility from the conversation last night, sitting calmly in a simple wooden chair. _Fenix_ , she rolled the name of her tongue, testing its refinery, and eyed the woman again. The wife of a blood-heir of nobility, of someone that had built a government. That was strong blood, and there was no doubt that Lady Fenix had belonged to a powerful family as well, to perpetuate the noble bloodline; or if it really were a matriarchal society, to create a true female head of the Fenix family. Either way, Pina knew that Lady Fenix was a woman not to be trifled with light intentions, and she also knew that in the future they would no doubt meet again in many battles to come.

 _They spoke of a cohg (COG)_ , Pina wondered, _a rebellion? A coup d'etat?_ Whatever had happened to this Empire called the cohg (COG), the Fenix family seemed to have been affiliated or at least party to its downfall, as they seemingly maintained their prestige among the yuu-ees-gee.

Countess Myui entered the room, her simple silk dress patterned in Italica fashion, as opposed to the Empire robes. She nodded her heads on greeting to Lady Anya and to Pina before taking a seat on the main throne.

"My deliberations were not easily done," Countess Myui said, "My thoughts are weighted by the expectations and needs of my people, and the promises of my late father. I lament that both proposals, I do believe, would require sacrifice on Italica's part, and I recognise my nation's sovereignty may yet come to a close." Pina grimaced, and knew in her heart that the Empire would indeed wrest control of Italica from Countess Myui. She glanced at Lady Fenix, who only seemed to smile sadly at the Countess. _Do they plan to do just that_ , Pina thought worriedly. _Perhaps their words were lies. perhaps they plan to dominate Italica with their soldiers. To take Countess Myui as a slave and demolish Italica into a Vassal._ Pina said worriedly. She hoped that whatever happened, Countess Myui would make the right choice.

"I ask you Lady Fenix, what the USGs policies remain on those of non-human origin. The animal people of ours, and those of other origin. What say you on their policies," Countess Myui.

Pina watched in interest as a hrd expression appeared on Lady Fenix's face, followed closely by fear, uncertainty, and acceptance. "I will not lie and say that the enemy people may not face some hostility from the native Seran people. Non-human creatures from our home are known to be... _destructive_. but by and large, unless provoked, we will extend the same rights and safety of Seran humans to all non-humans of Falmart."

"I see," Countess Myui murmured. Pina was stunned silence for a moment. It was easy to say that most non-humans were treated as second-class citizens, and were deprived of many basic privileges and rights. To say that they were willing to extend rights comparable to _human_ rights to them was preposterous and nearly fueled Anya's suspicion of trickery.

The room was silent, and the maids lined up on the side who were part animal seemed to be holding their mouths in shock. Finally Countess Myui nodded her head. "Then my decision is clear. Italica would be honored and privileged to accept the aid and friendship of the yuu-ees-gee."

Pina felt her lips shrink into a thin line, even as the maids begin clapping at the decision made by their Countess. "On behalf of the USG, we graciously accept."

"A formal written agreement will be decided upon within the day," Countess Myui said. She sighed and turned to Princess Pina, and there was an empathetic, even a little sympathetic, look on her face. "I do believe that this is an open declaration of war on behalf of the Empire."

"Italica isn't directly under the USG," Lady Fenix stated, "Its position as a sovereign state would give it ample reason to trade with the USG without fear of attack as a major hub of commerce."

Pina shook her head, "Regardless, it will be clear that Italica would be aiding our enemy and the Empire will attack Italica. The situation cannot be avoided. So long as USG forces operate within Italica, Italica is no longer an ally but an enemy."

"Until hostile declarations are made, I shall allow Princess Pina and her knights to remain in Italica without aggression. However, I would ask that you leave within the day," Countess Myui offered.

Pina nodded her head in acceptance, knowing that even that alone was generous. "I thank Countess Myui for her mercy," she said before turning to Lady Fenix, "Our two countries are at war, and it seems a battle of words has been won on this day. The Empire is vast and unrelenting, you will do well to remember that."

Lady Fenix nodded her head, but it was too calm and leisurely for her liking, and Pina rose to her feet to begin preparing her knights to depart. Knowing that eventually she would have to return to Italica under the banner of the Empire and to take Italica from USG control.

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

"We are the Dark Elves of the Schwarz Forest," Elder Masaomi said as he shook Cole's hand. When Delta-One arrived to the base of the valley, they came across a mass exodus of Dark Elves preparing to make the migration back to Schwarz Forest. When they realised that members of the 'Gears' that had fought and killed the Flame Dragon had arrived, their planned travel was delayed in favor of celebration...

...and booze.

"Sergeant Cole," Cole said exuberantly. He knew USG regulations and protocols dictated a certain amount of strictness in a first-contact scenario, so Cole was trying to keep within the book. "Ha! You Dark Elves earned the right to party," he said with a laugh. He pointed to the group of Dark Elves dancing wildly under the moonlight and at the cackle of a fire. Women were flocking around Carmine, placing their hands all across his muscled body, and Sam was getting more than one flirtatious man going her way.

"Our people are known to be very passionate," Elder Masaomi said. "It had led to mass misunderstanding and...mistakes to the point that we became outlawed on Empire soil."

Cole seemed surprised at that, "Outlawed? Really?! Empire's missing out!"

Masaomi smiled at that. "It's partially an exaggeration. Our people are not hunted down, but we're not well-received either. It's a matter of varying degrees. But, regardless, we do wish to express our gratitude with you and your people for ridding us of the Flame Dragon."

Cole laughed, "Killing giant monsters is petty work for Gears! We do this all the time." Cole laughed again and tipped his head back to take in a gulp of alcohol from his cup. Elder Masaomi gave Cole a cursory look, and in his youth he would have considered Cole to be a fool, but now that he was old and tempered by experience he could safely say otherwise. The man known as Cole, was a nobleman at heart. His eyes didn't speak of foolishness, but of kindness and gratitude. The kind that didn't require consolation or comfort, but rather gave it away without need for repayment and acknowledgement. Instinctual. A good and loyal man, the type that would run into danger and win under impossible odds just to make ease another's worry.

Even know, his words that could be taken as foolish humility, was an effort to try and remove any thoughts of gratitude and repayment in their hearts and instead refocus them on the here and now, on the joy of the celebration. "Your people are very kind," Masaomi said, "Falmart is graced with your presence."

Cole nodded his head, his eyes still compassionate, and downed the rest of his drink.

Dmitri was standing away from the party, his hands crossed over his chest, and watching the festivities with an idle eye. He gripped the talisman in his hands tightly and smiled bitterly at the young looking women he had to turn away. " _Und dosch vamus_ ," he said to them. _This heart would not accept._

He had, however, spied a dark elf at the edge of his peripheral, watching him curiously as the others talked and flirted. He gave her a small nod of greeting, remarking softly about how she seemed to be alone in her space, and she nodded back with a brief hesitation.

The sun had completely set in Falmart, and it would be a while longer before the next day came up.

In just one day, so much had already changed.

 **Again, fucking docs man. So this was meant to be the second part to the past chapter, lost it, couldn't get it to feel right, scrapped it, incorporated it into the next chapter. Now a little bit more onto the grand scheme of things. In the anime and manga, Italica was this little small ally that sent workers and brought along commerce, but beyond that nothing was touched on them anymore. They were just there and friends, and part of some political conspiracy. A background setting.**

 **Here its a lot more complicated with a political sham shackle. Now Italica is a enemy of the Empire. The reason why the issue, from my understanding, was skirted in canon was because the JSDF removed themselves from Italica and the Order of Knights took over, dealt with the bandits, and maintained border control, as well as Princess Pina trying to stall Imperial advance and open up talks. Italica was still a sovereign territory, giving them right to trade with JSDF without Imperial intervention, but because the Rose Order was there and exercised control following the JSDF deployment, as well as Italica acquiring aid from the Knights in dispatching threats, the Empire was a lot more tolerant. In this case, Myui outright refused imperial aid, accepted their enemy's aid, and have opened up trade with the USG, a surefire way to build an alliance. While that is a stretch, the Empire would have been embarrassed and betrayed by the tiny state of Italica and it would also represent a destabilization of their control, so they will have to stamp out Italica.**

 **Another thing to note is the language of both Yash and Dmitri. I ain't gonna lie, it's gibberish. But gibberish with some level of organization. I based Pesang's language from some old tribal languages and japanese, but its still just a load of gibberish. Gorasni was aimed for a more russian/german feel to it.**

 **Also the Holy Karsic Empire, they're made up too, to fill up some more space. I'll explain them more in the story, but they're like the Holy Roman Empire before they got shamboozled into the Confederation of the Rhine. The Dwarves will also be a small mix of the Warhammer fantasy dwarves.**

 **Anyways, the changes are getting more bigger, and it'll all stack up. I'm not really dividing up the anime harem, I'm more like extending them into positions where I would feel their characters would be comfortable in. The USG doesn't give them much option. Because Baird's the smartest guy they have, Jace is under standing orders, and well, actually Yash and Tuka are probably the ones that will be getting a lot of screen time as I shuffle Lelei and Rory around until they can shine. I may have studied business and economy for two years, but I at least know it takes a while to build one. So expect some technical jargon to be explained, time to be skipped, and things to happen at larger scales.**

 **The one thing I never liked in the anime and manga, was the so little amount of adventure. They played up the war a little too thick. Not enough exploration, not enough learning. That's half the fun in these types of stories. The stumbling across new and surprising cultures and people.**

 **Also holy shit Sera is full of fucking problems. They had a 1000 year-long period of war with each other that nearly destroyed their planet. Before they even created weapons like guns, and I'm pretty sure it had to have started before swords. To nearly destroy your world before destruction was easy is truly and astounding feat. HoD attacks and then the fact there was a seventy-nine year long war. Fuck man the hundred-years war looks paltry in comparison. A war that doesn't last at least a decade would probably be the most preposterous thing to these people, and the fact that they have 26 hour days would make it so that they have an extra 260 days in earth hours for them. That's almost another year. What on bloody earth.**

 **No wonder half the Gears don't have necks. Natural selection probably said fuck it half way through and just started stuffing steroids and for good reason.**


	8. Chapter 8

The weeks following the agreement on Italica were fast-paced and startling fruitful. The Gears were deployed on Italica soil and had dealt with a large majority of the bandits and the enemies of Italica. Some surrendered to be trialed under Italica law, and others were taken prisoner and were being used by SI, Seran Intelligence, to gather information on the Empire.

A fast action response team was stationed in Italica proper, attending to any massive raids or problems that happen anywhere within Italica soil after the initial sweep across the land. Medical personnel treated patients who had suffered from the bandits, while the Engineering Corp were assigned the task of helping rebuild some of the burnt down and destroyed villages. Some of them had refused help, but the Gears still managed to ensure that food and water was given to the villages drastically affected by the rise in crime.

Countess Myui had used the dragon scales that the Gears had sold to her to gain more money for Italica, and had used that money to quickly rebuild the Italica Garrison. They were also used to create armor and weapons for her new soldiers, who were all told to work alongside the Gears in maintaining patrols around Italica.

There had been shock filled expressions and exclamations when the Italica people had first seen Gear vehicles and weapons used, with an extreme example of a bandit extermination, and in some ways it was a blessing and a curse. The people eyed them with awe and inspiration, since they had freed them from the bandits and were helping them rebuild, while others were suddenly wary and fearful of any Gear within a fifty mile radius. Regardless, the new Italica Garrison were mindful whenever around the Gears.

A trade agreement had happened, and in the days since, some of the more established parts of Jacinto had begun purchasing wares from Italica. Mainly exotic foodstuffs, produce, and some comfort items. The rebuilding of Sera had created a lot of jobs, but at the same time the reconstitution of the Seran Standard Dollar had meant that paper money had to be remade and not a lot of people were keen on buying exotic wares using their limited amount of money. Though some of the more established families, and some of the poorer ones, had dined to make a few purchases when Italica goods began moving through the Gate. A semblance of normalcy, and a hope of habit for the future, where constant work and rebuilding from ruins would be a distant thought in their minds. It helped reignite the economy, in that sense. While Sera had very little to give Italica, what little they did have, were ravenously taken up by the indigenous people. Their alcohol in particular became a widely popular one, and was praised for its 'teeth-gritting effect' and a few Serans were benefiting from it greatly. Money was starting to become interchangeable, the Dollar was given value again in a world where going to a mall and buying a shirt seemed like a ludicrous idea, and the ranches and businesses that had opened up were proving to be lucrative and were sending back profit and foodstuffs back towards Sera.

It was a slow but understandable movement. One that, for all intents and purposes, was the best outcome for the entirety of the situation. Alnus Hill had became a bustling medium sized district, with Seran businesses and local pubs and stores opening up to the general public. Most of the staff and owners came from Italica, and the commercial nation brought along savvy businessmen who knew how to start a living in baking to banks. Their relationship with the Serans, in that sense, was very rough, as most of the Serans were still new in the business world, but the competition, in a way, helped foster Sera's future.

The Gears had to expand their patrol routes, and the Onyx Guard had to assist the Military Police in maintaining continued security, but FOB _New Anvil Gate_ became party to the creation of Alnus City, and at the rate of growth, with some merchants from League and Alguna arriving, the idea of a city on Alnus Hill wasn't that far off.

Bernie had to admit, her job as the highest ranking person on this side of the Gate had led to her being very busy. It was difficult in a way she wouldn't believe for her to suddenly be given civilian duties in addition to her normal military ones. But Anya had been there to take the load off and had taken to working over the reports and acting as the civilian social and public manager for the entirety of this mess. That is, if she wasn't away with Marcus. Every so often Bernie would spy Anya heading towards the now newly constructed Fenix ranch up on a hill to the south-east of Alnus.

"Girl's earned a man she could trust and love like Marcus," Bernie murmured as she flipped through the papers. "Marcus too. They're good for each other." And look at her, talking to herself about two young lovebirds like an old disgruntled grandma. She puffed out a breath, _ain't no way Bernie Mataki is admitting she's old._ Sometimes she thought about grabbing a sniper and fighting on the front with the boys and girls out there, but while she would never admit her age, she knew her time was rearing to an end. She wasn't needed on the battlefield, not anymore. Marcus didn't need good old Corporal Mataki that kept him company after Carlos' death, didn't need Sergeant Mataki keeping Hoffman from over scrutinizing him for his mistakes, ole' Mataki was just needed behind the desk, no more scurrying under bombed out buildings, fighting monsters, or facing down the barrel of a gun. No more Locusts, but plenty more fighting to do. She was just tapped out, she was done waking up and worrying over orphans or widows she had made, done with the constant adrenaline of gunfights, done with the fear and worry of losing a comrade, a friend, in a battlezone. She was General Mataki now, and while the feeling still gnawed at her, still wrinkled her nose knowing she was sending men to fight, she was needed on that fight anymore. Now she had to deal with the mess of command, and hoping she wasn't sending men to die needlessly, and hoping that she didn't make a mistake along the way. "Out of one meat grinder and onto another," she grunted.

There was a knocking at the door and Bernie allowed a 'come in' as the person on the other end stepped into the room. He was a short man, certainly shorter than her but definitely taller than Hoffman, and he was wearing the Navy blues of the USN with two gold bars and a silver bar on his shoulders. "Lieutenant Commander Apley, Ma'am," he introduced himself.

"Taskforce Xenonaut," Bernie muttered low under her breath, " I almost forgot about you sea boys. What's the poison? And how long do you have to live?" She asked.

A faint grin appeared on Apley's face, just faint though and it didn't obstruct his stern military demeanor. "The USS _Seamus_ has just been relocated to the Blue Sea, Ma'am. Port Brave has been successfully constructed and has met all necessary accommodations. I'm here to request Security Personnel to protect Port Braves permanently and resources for extended operations in the Blue Sea."

Bernie frowned. "You and half the city below us," she said Irritably, but not unkindly, "I only have so many Gears and I'm already close to overextending. I can give you a squad or two of Gears, but anymore and we'll have to call in reinforcements and I'd rather not do that with the RFV prowling about."

Apley nodded his head in a grave manner. "Indeed. The USS _Seamus_ and USS _Koenig_ has a contingent of Marines we could use to guard Port Brave, so we wouldn't need that many Gears. A single squad would suffice," Apley said, "However, the issue of fuel is the most prevalent. We don't have much at our disposal and it would be catastrophic if we were to become stranded out in open water without fuel."

"You'll have an answer soon, I would hope," Bernie said, "We have teams currently trying to find a way to deal with that situation now. Until then, Xenonaut is to stay ready and prepared at Port Brave."

"Yes, Ma'am," Apley nodded his head. With a smart about face, he left the office and disappeared past the white washed door. Bernie sighed and reclined on her seat as she stared at the ceiling.

"When's the war gonna start," she said tiredly as she took a sip of soda on her desk. No alcohol, she couldn't afford alcohol in her position. "The waiting is worse than the fighting," she decided before starting back on the paperwork.

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

Marcus sniffed as he worked on the fields of his newest addition to the Fenix ranch. The air on this side of the Gate was fresher and cleaner than what Marcus was used to, even back in his youth growing up in the Fenix estate.

With a breath of air, Marcus pulled back his on his sleeves and waved at Nozal and Vienna, two local workers he had hired to work on the Fenix ranch. "I'm heading back to the house," he said, "I'll be back in a few."

"Ok!" Vienna, a short blonde girl wearing a PT cap Marcus had given hair, said in accented Tyran. Marcus nodded his head and made his way back towards the Fenix house, careful not to upset any of the work he and his two new workers had put in on the field.

He stepped into the impressively built wooden household at the center of the Fenix designated land. In his opinion he didn't like the needless two floor design and he found use with all the extra rooms by giving them to Nozal and Vienna's family. Both he and Anya were fine with it, and neither of them really liked the attention their family name and past deeds seem to give them, so balanced it out by giving them out to other people.

The common room and living room had a homey cabin feeling to it, with an old sofa and some padded chairs in the living room. There was someone in the kitchen but one glance was enough for Marcus to tell it wasn't Anya. That left her personal office space and Marcus wrinkled his nose at the thought of that. Anya had always fit right at home with the more technical aspect of running a ranch, handling the business end of their small homestead, but her new position as the representative of the USG on Falmart reminded him too much of her old job in the COG. He made it perfectly clear he didn't like it, even with the new ranch, but he respected Anya's decision.

He stepped into the section of the first floor that was left for Anya's workspace. She was sitting behind a wooden desk filled with folders and papers stacked in neat columns atop it. Her eyes were narrowed as she stared at a piece of paper in her grasp, and Marcus had came to be familiar with the sight since arriving on Falmart. He was, however, surprised to see a small blonde girl curled up on Anya's lap, resting her head on Anya's chest, and staring curiously at what the older blonde was doing.

"Anya," Marcus said, his voice a touch bewildered at the small child. She glanced up at him from under her fringe, a small grateful smile on her face.

"Marcus," she answered. Just like all the times on the field, a brief utterance of both their names. Marcus was her eyes and her responsibility on the battlefield, and Anya was his guide and constant on a ruined and devastated landscape. In a way, that still hadn't changed. "It's good to see you. I thought I was about to lose my mind with all the paperwork."

"I figured," Marcus grunted. "Who's she?" He dropped to a knee and gave the small child a curious look. The girl huddled up closer to Anya, a slightly curious and frightful look on her face. Anya had to admit, with his large neck and muscles body, Marcus looked like a dinosaur looking down on a helpless human child. _(Ahem* GO4 Trailer *Ahem)_

"Come on, introduce yourself," Anya urged the little girl, "He looks all tough but he's a big teddy bear for kids." He made an unsatisfied sound at that remark, and Anya flashed him a small thoughtful smile. "Okay, he might not be as fluffy as a teddy bear."

It took a little more prodding, but after Marcus took a few steps back and allowed his gruff exterior to give way to a smile, she finally opened up and gave Marcus a wave from her perch on Anya's arm. "My name is Tania," she said quietly, in a voice only little kids could achieve, "It's nice to meet you."

"Hello, Tania," Marcus said, somehow turning his gravelly voice into something warm.

"She's Vienna's little sister," Anya said, "She just arrived with the rest of Vienna's family." Tania smiled shyly up at Marcus as Anya stroked her head. "Oh, and Henry from the Decker Farm gave us some extra sheep he got from some locals."

"Sheep?" Marcus murmured as he patted Tania's head. "I know a former COG sergeant that was looking into reopening his family's old textile factory. How much do you think we could go for wool?"

"Sera wasn't reduced that much by the war," Anya said seriously, "But I think wool would go for a fair price."

"Baah!" Tania said suddenly, trying to imitate a sheep. She giggled to herself as she hugged closer to Anya, "Big and fluffy!" Anya smiled softly on the bundle of youthful exuberance in her arms.

"She got to play with them for a while too," she said warmly.

"Did she wash her hands?" Marcus asked, "Wouldn't want her getting sick from anything that came from the sheep."

Tania nodded her head vigorously. "Soapy between the pinkies and water under the nails!" She sang.

"Vienna taught her that," Anya laughed when Marcus gave her an amused look, "My mother taught me hygienics using a field pack, so I'm not sure if I'm at all qualified to be teaching other kids."

"There's no better way to teach than the Gear Reg Manual," Marcus said. "Baird told me you've been spending some time at the hospital."

Anya made a disgruntled noise as she stood up and carried Tania onto the ground. "Yeah. We have the King of Elbe and over a hundred of his soldiers receiving treatment in the hospital and confinement in a secluded off section. I've been trying to negotiate with him and he seems fairly receptive to us. He seems to think that the Empire betrayed him and the other monarchs that assaulted Alnus Hill, so that's giving him some leeway against us in the negotiations." Despite her words, Marcus could tell that Anya was frustrated.

"So what's the problem?"

"He wants the Gears to help him fight off the Crown Prince who has taken over Elbe after his supposed death," Anya said. Marcus frowned, knowing that the King was practically asking the Gears to commit to invading another country, which is counter-productive to Chairwoman Newts goals for the immediate future.

"Did you explain to him why that's a bad idea?"

"Yes," she said, unable to keep the exasperation out of her voice, "But he says that if we can't give him military aid; then he would prefer material aid would be needed. He wants to have a few guns, basically."

Marcus grunted, knowing Anya was dealing with a stubborn man. "Why does he need it so much?"

"He says he has allies and treaties to call on to take back Elbe, but the Crown Prince is loved by the people of Elbe and some portions of League. The Crown Prince has too large a following, and even if he manages to completely take over Elbe, he'd be faced with near open rebellion. He would need to take over Elbe quickly and near bloodlessly, and he thinks guns can help him march onto the capital with as little casualties as possible and keep the populace in line."

"But if we give him guns, we risk the plans to firearms becoming compromised, and we can't help him with an entire army of Gears because we don't _have_ an army to spare," Marcus surmised.

"Chairwoman Newt doesn't want another war, not with the RFV watching us like hawks. I'm also afraid that if we help in this little civil war, the other monarchs might get the wrong idea and join up with the Empire against us, which they have right to, considering we killed a good portion of _their_ armies as well." Anya sounded bitter as she said all this. "Politics," she grumbled.

"It makes the world go round," Marcus admitted. "And fills shot glasses."

"That sounds just about right." Anya rubbed her forehead and gave Marcus a tired look.

"Need a break?" he asked knowingly.

She smiled at him, "Maybe, but after my work is done. I have to negotiate with the king for the rights to mine Tybe mountain for potential fuel and precious stones. Baird's been getting all sorts of data from Cole's team now that they are working with the Dark Elves from Schwarz Forest. We've got four spots in Elbe territory that has a deposit of oil, and a place called the Swamp of Disillusions to investigate."

"I heard Baird's been investigating the locals...uh, _technology_ to fix the fuel issue."

"You mean magic?" Anya was amused at how Marcus tried to skirt around the subject. He was the son of two scientists, and had received a good education growing up, so the thought of magic existing probably rankled him. "Yeah, I managed to get some books for that blue haired girl, Lelei, and she's been talking to Baird about that."

"Baird and a kid?" Marcus almost sounded horrified.

"Don't worry," she replied immediately, "I gave him a book on child-friendly expletives that he _should_ be using."

"Did you tape his fingers together too?" Marcus asked seriously. Anya paused, and then made a small curse under her lip.

"Forgot about that," she whispered lowly.

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

Countess Myui walked down the halls of the Formal mansion. Her maids and butlers were still dutifully working as expected of them, and she was glad that she still had some level of power over her nations even with the yuu-ees-gee helping them.

She glanced outside one of the windows to see the Fast-Action Response Team that the yuu-ees-gee's army, the Gears, had given her. Myui wasn't as knowledgeable about Military doctrines and tactics as she would like, but from what she understood the Gears employed small unit responsive and aggressive tactics against enemy incursions and assaults. It was the antithesis of the Empire, who favored large scale formations and tactical infantry planning.

She stepped into her bed chamber and was greeted by the sight of two of her maids and her Head Maid bowing their heads to her. She dipped her head in greeting, and gave each of them a nod.

"Is there any news from the Empire?" Countess Myui asked.

The Head Maid glanced at the other two, both of them once hailing from the Warrior Bunnies. "Our scouting parties have confirmed that the Empire has rebuilt a third of their Legions. Currently they are standing at ten-thousand men, and have a few thousand Wyvern and trebuchet units built up. We've also confirmed that since Italica's apparent alignment with the yuu-ess-gee, three of the pro-peace Senators have moved to the action of armed conflict with the yuu-ess-gee."

"Do you believe that Italica's sudden political decision affected the decision making?" Myui asked curiously.

"It is within the realm of possibility. We did not embargo the Empire, but Italica is still a major hub of commerce, and if at any point during the war we decide to stop all trade with the empire..."

"Then it would be devastating on the Empire," Myui finished. She, of course, already knew this but needed to know for sure. Both of her sisters, the ones fighting for guardianship over her, had quilled their fierce in fighting lately and their once honeyed words were now distant over the drums of war. The promising idea of gaining Italica's land and the Formal's house wealth was suddenly washed away with the situation now surrounding Italica. Myui would admit, that it was a slight bonus that she had not foreseen when she made the decision to refuse Empire aid. "Any other news?"

"The Crown Prince of Elbe, League and Alguna have taken their father's throne," she said, "And Alguna has sent us a letter to renew Italica's treaty with them on tax exemption, and to promise military aid to Italica should the Empire decide to attack."

Myui tilted her head back in surprise, but otherwise stayed expressionless; her father had once remarked that she had looked like a doll whenever she did that. "That is unexpected, but well within the realm of possibility. Write a letter in reply as thanks and that the treaty will be renewed, following newer conditions with the Empire. The old agreements would now need to be changed since we are working with the more exotic yuu-ees-gee."

"Of course," the Head Maid replied.

"What else am I to be made aware of in my realm?"

"The rate of criminal activity has dropped and the outlying villages have been restored. Their views of the USG are positive, but there are those that blame them for what had happened," the Head Maid replied, "Here in the Citadel the response is mixed, but they fear the yuu-ees-gee enough not to cause a scene."

"That was to be expected," Countess Myui said as she stepped towards her rooms open window. "Many of our soldiers were killed by the yuu-ees-gee and their help can only affect so many minds. There will always be people who want more, who will never be satisfied."

"Wise words, Milady," the Head Maid bowed.

"But they are only just that; words. For the survival of Italica, we must work to ensure that the treaty we have with the yuu-ees-gee not violated in any way," she said. "Delilah."

One of the Warrior Bunnies bowed at her name bekng called. "Yes, Mistress."

"I would not ask of you to endanger yourself lightly," Myui stated, her voice still as passive as ever, but her expression had changed to include a small quirk of her lip. "But in matters that threaten the realm of Italica I must do what I must. I would ask that you seek employment in Alnus City, and keep an eye on yuu-ees-gee deployments and intentions. We know too little of their mannerisms and their people, beyond their language, and we also know too little of what they plan to be doing in Falmart. While I wish to maintain our alliance with the yuu-ees-gee, I do at least wish to know if they plan to take over half of Falmart."

"Of course, Mistress," Delilah said, "I shall watch and learn as much as I can and send reports back at your desired rate."

Myui nodded her head. "Weekly, would be preferable. Gather as much as you can learn, and then send an unmarked letter to Italica."

Delilah nodded resolutely. "At once, Mistress," she said. She spun on her heel and quickly made her way towards the door. Myui sighed and bunched a handful of her dress into her hands. She was shaking, and she hadn't even realised.

"Prepare the baths, I wish to enjoy a moment of relaxation," Myui commanded. Both of the maids bowed their heads and briskly walked out of the room. Leaving Myui alone with her thoughts, and as she stared out onto the sight of Italica, she realised her thoughts were many.

 **Clearing up the aftermath of the decision and setting up some scenes. Now we've started to get to the Gears main goal in Falmart.** _ **Fuel**_ **. Some of you may be asking why the didn't just build in Italica, well, they can't just swoop in an area with villages and sovereign territory and just start mining. These people would hae probably never seen oil extractors in their life ad would think they were some weid siege engines. Plus Italica is very small, with villages taking up a lot of their land. Elbe is alarge kingdom, with vast areas that are untouchedby humans and the mountains of Tybe only have mines. They would be perfect places for the Gears to mine for oil and not suddenly make people so interested in digging into the ground to find black murky tar-things.**

 **Of course there's the Crown Prince to worry about. As you can see there's no Flame Dragon running around, and I also made it so that the Crown Prince is loved by Elbe. Which means there's going to be a fight to reclaim that throne and give the Gears that precious fuel they want.**

 **Also, I've seen the GOW4 cinematic and when Marcus looks down at little baby TJ it looks like a velociraptor with a big ass neck wanting to chomp down on a little plushy human. That neck was way too realistic looking. I realised I'm putting way too much politics in this, and that there's no real balance between the fighting and the talking, especially since the firsr few chapters was fighting. :P. kf you guys have a problem with it I can make some adjustments. Also, for some reason your reviews aren't popping up on the FF site. I still get them in my mail, but that's really annoying.**

 **Anyway, I have like four exams left before I'll be gone for like...a week? Maybe two weeks as I move to a different country. Wach out for that.**


	9. Chapter 9

Cole pushed through the foliage of the Forest he and the rest of Delta team were in. Carmine was next to him and was watching the treeline with his Lancer held at the ready.

It had been three weeks since they separated with the Dark Elves from Schwarz Forest. In that time, Delta Squad had to be saddled with a new member Yao, who had agreed to help the Gears manoeuvre around Elbe kingdom, since she was one of the Clans hunters and was accustomed to the area. She was quick and nimble, if a little awkward, and Cole thought her to be a good addition to the Squad.

"You think we gonna see any action," Carmine asked as he pushed a low branch out of his way. The wood snapped from his excessive force, and the Carmine grunted as he tossed it away. "I had my fun with the Elves and all, but my instincts are itching. Feels like we're in a damn grub hole right now."

"What makes you say that Clay?" Cole asked. "It's been pretty smooth sailing. Let me tell ya, I wouldn't mind setting up shop here. Open up my old wine cellar again," Cole grinned at the thought. "Vintage Ostri Wine, finest out there Clay."

"Never figured you a class man," Carmine demurred as he swept their right flank. "Had a go at wine myself. Nothing fancy, Jacinto Whites, ya'know? Great for a nice homey meal with prime steak."

"I'm a Medium Rare kinda guy," Cole said good-naturedly.

"Shit, you're all sorts of class Cole," Carmine dropped his gun from his shoulder and made a sharp whistle. "Hey Sam! Did Baird say anything yet?"

From behind them Sam came up, a finger pressed to her right ear, and Dmitri and Yao flanking both her sides. Yao was looking at the forest, her pointed ears twitching at every single noise, and Cole noticed her giving strange looks at Sam and her weird pose. Cole had to admit, if he didn't know what radios were, the sight of of Sam with one finger pressed against her ear, head staring up at the sky in exasperation, and a hip cocked to the side in annoyance would have been a very strange thing to look at.

"Yes, we've left the valley...No, we didn't hit the Swamps yet, those are deeper inland and there's too much rough ground...What? How far?...Alright, I'll relay it to Cole...What no goodbye?" She rolled her eyes from whatever reply Baird made and gave Cole a small look. "Baird says some of the King Ravens spotted something on the Edge of Elbe territory, he wants us to go check it out."

"I thought we're a Special Investigations and Recon Unit," Dmitri grunted. "I'm guessing we'll be facing some nasty buggers."

"Baird doesn't know," Sam said, "He wants us to scope it out. But not to cause a ruckus. The Crown Prince, or King now, might not be all that happy with having Gears in his land snooping about."

"Where exactly is this?" Yao asked as she walked towards Sam. Dmitri moved to cover the girls backs as Sam pulled out her map and showed Yao where they needed to go. Cole kept an ear on the conversation to know whether there were any complications and Carmine went off to stand a few metres from the group.

"That's near Dablune," Yao said. "It's a town at the edge of Elbe territory. There's a forest and lake that intersects it, and Dablune is known as a military outpost and barracks for Elbe soldiers." She traced her finger across the map and glanced up at the stars in the night sky, most likely trying to formulate a path. "We can cut through here. It's mostly open farmland, so we'll have to be careful not to be caught."

"Just like the good old days tipping cows, huh?" Cole said as he nudged Carmine on the arm playfully.

"Poor cow, with how much meat you got on you Cole, the cow would probably die if you even give it a pat," Carmine replied.

"Boys, behave!" Sam said in mock admonishment. "You see what I have to deal with everyday?" She said to Yao. The Dark Elf smiled in bemusement, her face a mix of confusion and apprehension. Poor girl seemed to think they were all mad.

"You get used to it," Dmitri supplied helpfully when Yao glanced at him. "The weirdness I mean. They act more like family than a military unit to be honest."

"We all are family D!" Cole enthused, "You roll in Delta, you rolling with trust." Yao was only more confused at Cole's terminology and glanced at Dmitri again for confirmation, who grunted in amusement at the large question mark above her head.

"Balls," Carmine said suddenly, "How far until we reach the town Sam?"

"It's not that far," Yao answered for her. "Just another hour walk and we'd already reach it."

"Yeah? Well then shit, I think I found what we're looking for," Carmine nudged his head into the forest, and Delta Squad all turned to see...giant rats on two legs rushing towards them. "I told you! I told you I felt my instincts tingling!"

Sam made a disgusted sound as a terrible smell reached her nose and Dmitri grunted when he saw the oversized vermin marching towards them, lightly armored and carrying clubs, followed closely by a narrowed eyed black-furred version of their brethren.

Yao, however, had the most animated expression out all of them. "Skaven!" She yelled, her mouth dropped open and fingers twitching as the small horde stormed closer. "Kill them! Kill them before they get you! They'll rip you to shreds or drag you down!" She warned fiercely, sweat glistening on her forehead, and she pulled her bow into her hands.

Delta Squad reacted with a start, and they easily brought their guns up on the inhuman monsters. If Cole concentrated enough, they reminded him slightly of the Locust horde. "Fire! Fire!" he ordered. The team pressed down on the trigger of their rifles, launching hot lead across the expanse of space to pound the enemy lines with deadly projectiles. Yao made a strangled noise as her bow fell from her hands, her eyes wide and uncomprehending at the loud booms and echoes of the Gears weaponry. Cole remembered how they hadn't used their weapons before in front of Yao, and the Elf was clearly stunned at the speed and strength their Lancers could fire. She turned to the Skaven horde, and she grimaced as she saw limbs explode by their joints, skins ripping apart from terribly powerful kinetic energy, and the soft, fragile bodies of the Skaven being reduced to ribbons underneath the awesome firepower.

Yao pulled back slightly on her bow, pale faced at the speed with which the first horde had been dealt with, and wondered if she was needed at all. But the Skaven at the front were, as she had come to know, the Slaves with which the Skaven's opinion was the least of. They fell to the attack, their armorless torsos leaking gallon fulls of blood onto the ground, and the warriors of the Skaven came up next, their more armored torsos and sharper weapons gleaming under the moonlight, and Yao knew they had gotten too close and the Gears couldn't keep up their rate of fire so easily as that.

She notched her arrow, whispering words of her native Elven tongue. Her arrow sparked to life and fire burned brightly at its tip with wind swirling around its shaft. She let go of the string and a swirling vortex of wind was left in the wake of her enhanced arrow. It cut straight through a line of thirteen Skavens, their bodies igniting into flames from the powerful magic, and the Skaven stopped as their ranks parted and dispersed from the fire.

Cole was stunned, and wary. That arrow would have no trouble cutting through Gear armor at its weakest point, and he now eyed Yao in a more critical light. Dmitri made a noise next to him, and Cole turned to see the Gorasni give her an appraising eye. He shot Cole a look, and nudged his head into the trees.

"There's more of them," Dmitri stated,"They're circling around us." Cole grunted, knowing these tactics. When the Locust Horde hit the world, COG commanders made the mistake of thinking the Locust were just mindless beasts with no intelligence, leading to uncountable deaths from being outflanked or surrounded. Cole never liked looking down on anyone, his opponents or his allies; he was a professional sportsman and a team player after all, the kids looked up to him. So Cole knew that his best course of action was to retreat. _Baird would have,_ Cole decided. Baird was the better leader, and Cole the brother he needed, but Cole had to wise up and take charge now and the least Cole could do was lead by the example he had gotten used to in the war.

"Come on Baby Queen, you know a place we could go to lay low? Force them into a chokepoint?" Cole asked. Cole had always rushed into the battlefield laughing, inspiring friends and foe that fear was not needed and that Cole would protect them, or at the very least, shield them from the worst of it, but as the leader whatever he faced, the others would too, so he knew to stay away from the fight if the rest weren't prepared to meet it.

Yao stuttered then finally nodded. "The ravine," she said, "It's dug past the valley and its connected to the underground river that flows underneath Dablune!"

"Smart," Carmine commented, not letting his finger off the trigger. "Building a town over an underground river."

"The original villages atop the Jacinto Plateau did the same," Sam remarked. "We should get to it, they're getting closer." Closer would mean right at Carmine's throat. The Private dodged back from the swipe of the claws, and body slammed the rat thing by his shoulder. The Skaven stumbled backwards and Carmine holstered his rifle and tossed the Skaven over his shoulder and onto its fellow brethren. To Clay's surprise and disgust, the Skaven merely cut through the body as though it was a useless object, their swords shredding the body to small chunks so that it didn't impeded their progress.

Sam pulled out her Gnasher and fired a spread of pellets into the horde, blowing some Skaven backwards but some had their armors held against the small pellets and suffered small and deep trenches in the plating. "Shit!" She cursed and dodged a Skaven lunging for her. Another tried to grab her legs but Sam kicked him away, but that opened up her flanks to a Skaven wrapping its arms around her waist and threatened to pull her into the horde to be ripped to shreds. Cole ran forward, chainsaw bayonet growling, and severed the Skaven's head by its neck.

"No good manling!" One of the Rat men, a black-furred one, lashed out with a wicked looking blade. It created a gash on Carmine's forearm, but the Private was no stranger to pain and he ignored it as he punched the vermin square in the jaw. He was surprised how fragile the thing felt and knew he had broken the bone and its snout from the punch. The thing staggered and jump back, but it still fought on. This time he ducked underneath Carmine's next swing and jabbed at his chest plate. As expected the blade didn't dent the power armor, and with an annoyed huff the Skaven flipped the blade and skewered Carmine's bicep.

"Agh!" He grunted, "You cheeky little fuck!" With the Skaven so close to him, Carmine wrapped his powerful arms around it, ignoring the pain flaring up on his arms, and then he performed a suplex on the creature. A loud gut-wrenching crack was heard, and Yao felt her lips shrink backward in distaste as the Stormvermin skull cracked and skin ripped to deposit the contents all over the ground.

Cole's chainsaw still roared and the awkward way he had to hold it made it difficult for him to block or parry any of the strikes the Skaven made. But every time he did, their weapons would snap when they met the chainsaws rotating blades and that left them defenseless to his cutting them open.

"They're all around us!" Dmitri warned, his trigger discipline being dropped in favor of stopping the flanking move to their left. Yao fired another of her arrows, this one not speeding forward with speeds rivaling a Lancer but instead it hit the ground and sparked another flame, engulfing the trees and burning or scarring the Skaven rushing through the foliage.

"We have to move!" Yao said desperately, "Please! They won't stop! They have an endless number of soldiers!" Cole grunted and quickly made the order to fall back. Sam and Dmitri kept up their fire to cover Cole's and Carmine's retreat, Sam slowing down the horde the most with her continuous stream of shotgun pellets.

They ran through the forest, one of them always stopping to fire a few rounds into the horde before rushing on. Cole was huffing as he ran, completely surprised by having an entire army behind him. They had fought hordes of Locust, but the number behind them was larger than all that. Cole was still certain, however, that his Gears could handle them perfectly fine, but the Sergeant was sure there was something else in that pack, and he wasn't comfortable running into something he didn't know about. The Cole train isn't afraid of anything, but even he knew some battles had to be thought through.

"Drop down the ravine!" Yao yelled and she jumped off a steep decline to grab onto the rock wall opposite the drop. Cole was impressed with her balls, and had boisterously complimented the Baby Queen before leaping off the drop and doing the same as her. Sam landed to his left, while Dmitri missed his footing and ended up below them as he struggled to keep his grip. Carmine was last, and had managed to toss several Skaven down the drop before jumping off.

"Climb down!" Yao said. Cole did so and eyed the Skaven trying to climb down. He pulled out his Snub pistol and fired at the Skaven, causing them to fall and crash to the ground. The Skaven glared at him and they backed away from the ravine.

"What are they doing?" Sam asked.

"They're not risking it," Yao answered, "Skaven care about personal survival more than fame or glory on the battlefield. But they might also be looking for another way down." Cole glanced down at her, his face surprised. She grimaced. "They thrive underground. They came with the Dwarves long ago, back when the Dwarves had Karak Mapak. That was before the Siege of Mapak, and the Skaven had always been despised by both the Dwarves and the Humans. They were hunted by them, but the Skaven dug tunnels underground and disappeared. Us Dark Elves have come across them in Tybe Mountain at times. They're horrendous," she sounded really distraught at the sight of the Skaven. "They're cruel and filthy, and I fear why they have risen to the surface."

"I can take a guess," Dmitri said as he pointed down to the ravine floor. Cole glanced down and realised that the flowing lake beneath them was slightly stained red with body parts and corpses littering the sides of it. "Looks like we know what exactly was that huge mob."

"Great. So, call it in and we can leave this shit hole!" Carmine grunted as he hopped off the wall and hit the ground with a thud. He pulled his Lancer off his back and switched on his tactical light. "Fuck, those things could be the Locust's weaker cousins for all I care!"

"Went from grubs to rats," Sam said sarcastically, "What else will the universe through at us?" She let go of the wall and hit the ground alongside Dmitri and Yao as Cole was the last to get off. "Good job back there Yao. That was an impressive thing you did with those arrows."

Yao blinked and blushed at the compliment, her eyes dropping to Sam's feet. She seemed completely surprised by the sudden compliment, to the point that Cole's senses were tingling about potentially deep issues. "N-no, it's really not that impressive. Most elves could do that much, at least. Dark Elves are better at combat magic though," she said. Cole noticed how she didn't sound proud of herself when she said that, but rather proud of her people. Filing that away Cole nodded down the ravine.

"This leads all the way to Dablune?" He asked. He glanced the other away, and realised that the water went underground and beneath an entire rock wall.

"Yes. The survivors from Dablune must have thrown their corpses here after closing their walls to the Skaven," Yao said as she stared at the fallen soldiers.

"Seems stupid," Dmitri grunted, "Having water is one of the most important things during a siege. They've just polluted their entire water supply by throwing their corpses down here when they could have just thrown them over the wall."

"The Skaven might be throwing the bodies back at them," Sam rationalised. "During the Silver Era, the Gorasnaya Empire did that during the siege of Guvira."

"Besides," Carmine interjected, "For all we know these guys might have died fighting here. Yao said that the Skaven built underground networks, right? They might have used this ravine to get the drop on the town."

Cole half-listened to the conversation as he peered down on the dead soldiers. Unlike Imperial soldiers, they didn't have the head encasing armor and chest piece with skirt. Their armor covered their thighs and femur, with their torso armor appearing to be metal octagons sewn over important areas, and the helmet was metal and covered the sides of their face but it opened up more of their chin and a piece of metal jutted out of their chest armor to cover their neck.

"We'll we can't go back up," Cole said as he stared at the top, "Them Locust-knock offs are up there waiting for us."

"If you can't go up..." Dmitri muttered.

"You go forward," Yao finished. Cole grunted and hefted his Lancer onto his chest.

"Clay you got point," he said.

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

Baird frowned as he listened to Lelei describe what she understood of her people's technological ability. Beyond discovering the wheel, Baird wasn't sure there was anything else noteworthy from this planet. They still weren't even completely sure about whether or not space was actually a vast expanse of nothingness, or disc shaped void and the stars were actually light passing through holes on the disc from an otherworldly beyond.

He snorted. But their magic still made him wary and agitated. From what he understood, it wasn't just about saying a couple of words and then 'poof' it happened. There was an application of logic and understanding, a complex system of cogs that had to be turned individually or simultaneously by the magician to create the spell. They needed to know what they wanted to do, needed to know how it was to be achieved, and used magic to 'enforce' the logic and understanding into their surroundings.

He got the gist of it easily. Basically, you can't give a person CPR if you don't know where his lung is, so learn about the human body first before CPR then try to save a choking person.

"This Holy Karsic Empire," he interrupted Lelei, "How much more advanced than the Imperials are they?"

Lelei frowned as she thought inquisitively, "They have repeating crossbows, using mechanisms and clockwork contraptions to make it happen. Their ships are large, a third as large as a Flame Dragon, and they have large metal cannons fastened to its front and sides. They still use axes, and swords, and the like, but they have a different kind of trebuchet that fires rocks covered in lava."

"You seem to know a lot about their military," Baird muttered skeptically.

"Most of my information is outdated from the time of the Siege of Mapak," Lelei admitted, "And Imperial scholars and citizens vehemently deny the Dwarves technological expertise, and are aghast at any implications of the Dwarves being stronger than them. Their pride had been wounded, and they still refused to budge." Baird was impressed with her bluntness and cold and hard logical viewset of the world.

"Alright then," Baird muttered. "FRED, come over here." He said to a robotic drone. It flew close by and Lelei looked at it curiously as she realised it was sentient. "Go through your databanks and see if you can find some books to print out on advanced chemistry and physics."

Leleo gave him a curious look. "Books? What do you need them for?"

Baird grunted, "It's meant for you. Anya told me to teach you something, but I'm too busy to deal with that right now, so you'll have to make do with books."

She nodded her head and glanced down at the paper that Baird had been scribbling on before Lelei arrived into his room. It was a map on the discovered land of Falmart, with places sections off in red, green, yellow. Red meant areas with probable deposits of petroleum, and green meant that there wasn't any. Yellow meant the presence of petroleum but signified that it was either too much hassle or too open to the public.

She looked at the words over again, and a frown marred her features. "What is _petroleum_?" She said and Baird was further impressed to know she could read Tyran letters.

"It's nothing important you nosy little brat," Baird muttered, careful not to swear lest he pissed off both Anya and Marcus. But when had he ever felt scared of them? Probably when the two of them got married and he became irritable at the reception.

Lelei frowned but didn't argue when the bot returned with printed books on the subjects he asked for. Lelei grasped it from the bots dangling arms and opened it to read. She didn't seem to find any problems even though the book was in Tyran.

She furrowed her brow as she continued to read the book, and Baird sighed as he went back to staring at the map. He wasn't happy though and preferred working on his thermal seeking rockets he had invented to be used with the King Ravens. At least his work had been cleared somewhat now that it was confirmed that there was indeed fuel in Falmart.

Now he just needed to catalogue and devise a more portable method of extracting fuel to be carried onto this side of the gate. A very frustrating project to do. He glanced back at Lelei and realised that her eyes were glossy as she hadn't blinked since she started reading.

"If you're going to take up space then leave, I've got things to do," Baird said snippily. Lelei gave Baird a silent and annoyed glare before stepping off her chair and leaving the room where Private Derrick was no doubt waiting for her. Baird watched her go and then grunted. "Fuck me, I should have just modified the Assault Dericks to collect oil."

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

Countess Myui saw to the departure of Delilah alongside the latest batch of workers to be sent to Alnus City. She closed her eyes as she sat in her throne room, her bath having not cleared her mind as much as she wanted it too. She sighed audibly, her mind going through the machinations of a morning routine, and when everything seemed to be in order she glanced at the newest addition to her throne room.

The guard standing there had once been common before her father left for the expedition, but since then the halls of Italica had been empty save the dangerous forms of her maids. Now though, Italica's former garrison had been replenished, sporting their dragon scale mail armor that would protect them.

Italica armored was different to Imperial armor, same as how Italica dresses were different to that of Imperial dresses. Their armor completely encased the upper body of the soldier, with shoulder pauldrons and gauntlets protecting the arms. The legs had metal boots that rose to their knees, and the rest was leather or fabric. The armor was colourful too as with a tunic over the metal, there was the color yellow, black, and green to signify the person as an Italica soldier.

Countess Myui was glad she was able to hire her new guards from the local populace, rather than call on mercenaries with the proceeds she earned from selling dragon scales. She trusted them more than she would simple mercenaries, and it allowed her to save money to buy the best weapons available for her men. But they were untested and inexperienced. She feared their first battle, for it was no doubt that it would be very soon.

Sooner than she expected.

Just then a soldier burst into the room, his face covered in sweat and his eyes wide with fright as he strode towards Myui. The Countess felt her insides twist painfully as she realised the reason for his haste and stared blankly as the man bowed to her, dropping to his knee with his right fist over his heart.

"Countess, o-our scouts have discovered Imperial forces massing just outside Italica borders," the soldier said shakily, "What are your orders Countess Myui."

She bit her bottom lip. She knew nothing of war, its intricacies and demands. She frowned and looked down on the soldier. "Gather the men, and prepare the Citadel for a siege. Inform the Gears of the coming assault."

"Yes, Milady," the soldier gasped, still tired from running, and Myui despaired for a moment seeing such weakness in her soldiers. He rose to his feet and raced out of the court, his boots hitting the ground with heavy thuds.

"Milady, what will you do?" the Head Maid asked, her head bowed. Myui felt her fingers tighten over the armrest of her chair, her nails digging into the wood in worry and fright. Had her father felt such emotions when battle was so near? The future of Italica rest on her shoulder, and she was unsure to her ability to combat the enemy.

"We must defend the Citadel at all costs," Myui stated. "The yuu-ees-gee will send their Gears to come to our aid. An army with the power to vanquish a Flame Dragon will have the necessary strength to stand against the Imperial Army."

"An excess amount of, I would imagine," the Maid replied. Myui nodded her head, hoping that that was indeed the case. She had heard stories of the Gears strange repeating crossbows and hoped that they were indeed as powerful as described.

"I wish to see the battle," Countess Myui said, ignoring the protest of her Head Maid and the guards. "My decision will not be swayed, I wish to see the fate of Italica's future with my own eyes."

She rose from her throne, her hands folded neatly in front of her, and she made her way down the the steps of her throne. The guards quickly took positions around her, their grips tight around their halberds, and faces sweating from the idea of combat.

"Stand tall," Myui said, recalling Princess Pina once saying that, "Victory is within our grasp. Never falter with that knowledge." They nodded their heads. Their fear dissipated seeing Countess Myui was as passive as ever.

"Italica had survived the Empire once before," the Maid said, "We will do so again."

Myui nodded and walked towards the balcony of the Formal mansion. She gazed at the wall from where she stood. The balcony was designed by her father, so that during a siege he was able to view the progress of the battle and there was a pathway that led directly to a chokepoint on that side of the mansion.

From where she stood she could see her men line up on the wall, the soldiers manning the cauldrons of boiling hot water above the gates and archers preparing their arrows. Myui frowned and looked down to see Sergeant Blaine of Foxtrot-Four.

"Ma'am," he said and snapped the Gears version of a salute. "I've sent back news to _New Anvil Gate_ and we can expect reinforcements to arrive within twenty minutes."

 _Twenty minutes._ Myui had no doubts that the Gears would arrive within that time frame. But she looked out towards the wall and she could see the Siege engine moving towards them. "Sergeant, do we have an estimate to the numbers of the Imperial Army?"

She returned her gaze to Sergeant Blaine, and she was shocked and surprised to see a wolfish grin on his face as he looked back at her. His eyes were alight with easy confidence and assurance. "About five thousand, ma'am." His voice didn't waver a bit.

Myui frowned, unsure what to make of the man's nonchalance in the face of such an impressive military attack. "Do you believe we can withstand the assault."

"With due respect, ma'am," Blaine said, "This isn't close to Gear odds. We'll keep your citadel safe, don't worry about that." He grinned at her and his enthusiasm was as infectious as he hoped, but Myui felt relieved that at least someone felt that way.

"I thank you for your service," Myui bowed her head and instinctually performed a curtsey. Blaine blinked in surprise and to Myui's own astonishment he bowed to Myui.

"Of course, Ma'am."

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

Princess Pina kept her eyes steady on the walls of Italica. There was a knot in her gut as she watched the walls be manned by armed soldiers. While ahead of her the professional full-time soldiers of the Imperial Legion were amassing and preparing an assault on Italica's walls.

The Legion Legate, Verminus, was seated on horseback as he eyed his men begin building fortifications and trenches for the long battle ahead. "Princess Pina, would you care at all to position your Knights at the back?"

"I must question the wisdom of such a move?" Pina questioned, her tone harsh and clipped. Her fellow knights were lined up on horseback next to her, and Bozes was managing the rest of the knights with Gray. "The siege of Italica is projected to be long and arduous."

"Indeed," Verminus said, "Yet, I know the strength of these young men. I fought in the battle of Italica, Milady. When I was nothing more than a low Centurion, but even at then, I saw the fire in their eyes. They will fight tooth and nail to protect their Citadel. Thus, I plan to send the youngest and less experienced soldiers through the siege towers first, while the ballistas rain ordnance down upon the walls. After the first wave, my Centurions will lead the second attack against the defenders and open the gates for the Legion through." Verminus explained his reasoning, and Pina could not fault him or deny his experience. Verminus had been a Legate for many years, an _Evocatus_ that had served her father for many years. To doubt him was to insult his many years of hard experience, and even Gray would not dare such a thing. Deference to his seniority, Pina decided, was the best judgement.

"Then what will be the duty of my knights?" Pina asked.

"It is regrettable we have none of our auxiliaries to provide cavalry support, but your knights are here and that is an advantage I do not plan to waste. When the gates open, I wish for you and your knights to break through the opposition that would form on the other end with a charge. Your knights, as praised by the esteemed Gray, should manage that fact. From there continue on to cause disarray in the ranks," Verminus continued explaining. "It is an important role, no doubt, but the task is needed. My Legion, _Vicesimum et contumax adfligens (Unyielding and Unrelenting 20th)_ , is the most veteran of the current Legions, and that is due to virtue of us having been garrisoned and replenished just as the 1st and 12th Legion traveled to Alnus Hill. My Centurions are veterans, but the same cannot be said for the rest of my men. We need to have momentum on our side, if we are to prevail in this coming battle."

Pina nodded her head, relaying the order to Beefeater as she pulled on her horses reigns. "Your Highness," Verminus began, catching Pina's attention. There was a grave look in his eye, and Pina did not know why. "Thrice now I have faced enemies I know nothing off. Once, against the Orsimer Kingdom of Knappnai, second, against the Fae Folk of the Forest Court. Each time, I have earned a scar more grusome than the last, and I fear, this one scar shall prove my last."

"W-what exactly are you implying?" Pina asked, her face contorted into confusion.

The Legate gave her an appraising eye before shaking his head. "I knew the Legate who led the 1st Legion, the Empire's best; _Gloria et honore (Glory and Honor)._ He would not have been defeated, entrenched and prepared as he was. That speaks of danger like that I would have mistaken to the second coming of the Vampire Courts," the Legate said seriously, "I ask of you to practice sound judgement when you lead your knights, Princess. I fear the enemy we must face might be the worst our Empire has faced since." Pina furrowed her brow in confusion and worry, but still she could not bring herself his words as that of stable mind. Surely, his age was merely showing, and his wariness was the result thereof. So, without thinking much on his words, she nodded her head and pulled her horse back.

"Of course, Legate," she said, not particularly concerned. The Legate watched her go, and there was a faint look of sadness in his eye.

"Now, thrice, the life of his Emperor's court lays in my hands. Lost at the hands of the Orsimer, and the other at the command of the Fair Queen of the Fae, Her Majesty Queen Titania, and now the fair princess' fate is decided upon today. I do so hope my epic poem does not end in despair," Verminus whispered to himself, age and a grim life now creeping to his face. "How unfair, us humans have it, on this world without a shred of mercy."

"Legate, the siege towers have been constructed as you ordered!" The Broad Band Tribune, his young inexperienced face screaming of similarity to the rest of his soldiers, said as he stepped up to him.

Verminus nodded, "Then prepare!" He shouted, "My valiant men! March forward and onto our enemies. Falter not in the face of fear! Falter not in the doom of the world! Falter only when commanded to by the Emperor and Senate! And even so, falter together, for the Legion stands united, brothers of humanity and progress! We are the Empire's Legion! _Senatus Populusque Imperium_!"

" _Senatus Populusque Imperium!"_ They roared.

" _Senatus Populusque Imperium!"_

" _ **Senatus Populusque Imperium!"**_

" _ **Senatus Populusque Imperium!"**_

 **A/N: I have no fucking clue if the Latin is right. But hey, might as well.** _ **Sieges**_ **,** _ **sieges galore**_ **. We have two arcs here. The Elbe Arc, and the Italica arc. Admittedly the Elbe arc will be longer than the Italica arc. The Italica arc is to kick the Imperial War into Gear (pardon the pun) and to restart the war. The Elbe Arc is to open up this whole new world of the Falmart mythology and stuff. Most of the inspiration of these newest additions is (Warhammer (Fantasy) F/SN mixed with a little Dresden Files, and Skyrim) While the Skaven was uplifted from Warhammer, my skaven are a little different. They don't have clans, they still think they're the superior race, but none of that Thirteen Lords or Plague Units. They don't worship their dark god (I forgot his name) but rather the gods of Falmart, which may be Hardy or a custom made one. If you wanna come up with something for** _ **that**_ **, because while I'm conscious of the Warhammer Universe, (40K hurts my head though) their gods and stuff make me real queasy, especially those Dark Elves.**

 **I've also taken the liberty of differentiating the armies of the Empire and the Vassal states. Elbe striked me as a welsh tribal/ronin japanese state. Italica as a France type state, especially the dress Myui wore and Pina wore when she visited Japan. I'm thinking Alguna is like a Macedonian type state and League like Carthage, you know with a good navy but hires mercenary soldiers.**

 **From the Elbe Arc I plan on moving onwards into new land, new territories, and more,** _ **and more**_ **, factions on Falmart. And just as a hint, they're not all native.**


	10. Chapter 10

When the Empire attacked, it was quick, aggressive, and decisive. The Imperial siege towers crashed onto Italica's walls with spiked wooden planks. Their shields held fast against the Italica's Garrison swords, moving in the precise and unyielding fashion of the Imperial Legion. Their gladius' were not swung in clumsy ways, the distaste of any well-bred Legion soldier, but stabbed and retracted at precise and opportune movements. They showed, to the world and to Italica, how they had maintained power for so many years. Their rigid and well-practiced formations and soldiers who maintained duty to the state and honor to their Legion over everything else, was the bread that held their Empire together. Their Legion; their military diplomacy.

They were truly stunning to behold. But Jean cared little for that. With a twirl of his twin estocs he managed to slice the neck of a Legionnaire and break their ranks. His fellow _épéistes_ met the Imperials with fierce swings of their estocs and swords, all of which danced around the Imperials simple swordplay. Jean retracted his blade and blocked a strike from a Legionnaire while thrusting with his other estoc. He skewered the Imperial and the _épéiste_ twirled his blades in his hands for another attack.

He countered two Imperial blades and sliced their necks with quick bladework. His fellow swordsmen created grey blurs in the air as they fought the Imperials that managed to push back the Halberdiers. They swung, and cut, and pushed, but the Imperials shouldered each other's burdens together, and their single mass of soldiers and emphasis on teamwork began to push the swordsmen back.

Jean flipped his estocs and scowled as the Imperials halted their advance and slammed their shields in the ground. The archers on the tower notched their arrows, but the Imperials had already assumed the turtle formation, turning their arrows useless. From just over the edge of the wall, Jea could see the much more well armored Centurions rush onto the wall, and he was left to grit his teeth in dismay.

The Imperials shields broke open, and Imperial Centurions rushed forward to clash gladius' with estocs as the they went to work on pushing towards the towers to open the gates. Jean locked swords with a single Centurion, his eyes ablaze and his skill much outclassing the rank-and-file Legionnaires. He swung his gladius' with much better ease and comfort, and turned the simple jabs and feints into an artwork. But Jean was a master swordsman, one that had learned from other swordmasters of Italica, and he dodged or parried the strikes with precision befitting his position. But the Centurion eventually managed to break Jean's defense, and lashed out with a kick to his knee. The Italica _èpèiste_ gasped in pain and barely managed to block the follow up strike.

The Centurion made a wide sweep of his blade, and managed to catch Jean by his chest armor. The dragon scale armor held strong against the attack, but the feedback caused from the armor slamming into his ribcage left him dazed. A second attack slammed against his helmet, which caused it to fly off his head and over the edge of the wall. The Centurion was standing proudly on top him now, his gladius held downwards onto Jean's head as the tip of the blade gleamed.

The Italican was prepared to have his life taken from him but just as the sharp blade was about to pierce his eye, a loud retort was heard and the Centurions chest exploded into gore and blood. Jean sputtered and spit as blood seeped into his mouth, and he turned wary eyes towards where similar such bangs were being made into the safety of the towers. He was familiar with these loud thunderous cracks in the air, and he knew that those Gear fellows were there to give them a hand.

He pulled himself up to his feet, and used his estoc to signal his thanks to the female Gear that was kneeling on the steps of the guard tower. The female soldier, a fact that Jean had to stomach down for a while, stepped towards him in a strange crab walk stance. "You okay?" she said with an accent.

"Indeed," he grunted. He gave her a nod of thanks and brought his estocs up to his sides. "What of the other side?" He glanced back at the wall, and grimaced as he saw Italican soldiers got tossed over the edge or methodically removed from the battle by way of broken femurs and elbows.

"The Imperials are swarming all over it," she said seriously. Her face was hard and fierce, reminded Jean of the warrior maids in the Formal mansion, and she gripped her strange crossbow tightly. "Fernando and Selin can't push through with that many on the stairs."

"A shame," Jean muttered, "But the Empire always loved their 4 to 1 advantages." The girl nodded her head and Jean thought she was far too serious to be one of the foreigners. "We shouldn't hold these walls for long. The Imperial numbers are too large."

"At this rate I'll run out of ammo before I run out of bodies," she muttered in agreement. She aimed her weapon and fired again. Thirty seconds, and nearly half of the Imperials fell as she depressed the trigger of her weapon. The fingers of her left hand danced across one of the levers on her crossbow, and Jean knew that if she pulled it her wicked looking blades would let out a terrifying shriek before it gruesomely murdered the soldiers. He found its design distasteful and dishonorable, and abhorred its unnecessary manner of dismemberment. But he'd rather have such dishonorable methods be used in favor of Italica's defence then against it.

"I must confess," Jean said as he blocked a flanking Imperial, as no doubt they had deemed the Gear to be the most dangerous threat to the assault. "This is my first battle beyond simple spars," he grunted as he kicked the Imperial away, "So I'm not the most experienced person to say this, but don't you think those Legionnaires are being rather daft standing even though your crossbow of iron is more than capable of harming them?"

When he said this the Imperials suddenly did the unthinkable; they dropped their shields. Now without the cumbersome weight, they dodged and weaved, making zigzagging motions that made it difficult for the Gear to aim. A Centurion in the back was urging the others to do the same, and the Imperial soldiers adapted a lowered stance, diminishing their frames to the Gears fire.

She grunted when she saw this and gave Jean the stink eye. "You had to open your mouth!" Jean shrugged guiltily and parried another strike from an Imperial. In one quick motion he disemboweled the Imperial and punctured to other Imperials lungs. He stepped back and turned, seeing the tail end of the Gear pressing her rotating blades onto an Imperials chest. Chunks of gore and metal spilled everywhere as the Imperial screeched in terror and pain as he was bisected diagonally across his upper body. Jean gave the same a silent prayer, hoping the God Emroy had accepted their souls with mercy, for his death was anything but.

Another surge of Imperials rushed the tower, and Jean took a step back. He turned to the Gear and noticed her sporting a new gash on her upper left arm and her brow. The awkward grip of her blade made it unadvisable in a sword fight, and while gruesome and deadly, the Imperial soldiers were relentless and didn't allow her to pull back her blade before attacking her again. It was impressive she managed to fight off three Imperials while dislodging her blade, but she was surely paying the price for a cumbersome design.

"We must retreat," Jean grunted as he forced a blade away. "Staying here will only lead to our deaths!" She nodded her head and pulled out a strange spiked rod from her belt. Jea gave it a curious glance before she tossed it at the Imperials. He widened his eyes when she grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away.

An explosion riddled the wall, blowing Imperials into smithereens, and Jean balked at the massive display of firepower.

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

"What was that?" Verminus asked, staring at the wall with a small frown. "Magic? I had not known Italica employed sorcerers in its defense."

"Must be the foreigners," his young second-in-command said as he eyed the wall. "I heard some of the deserters talk of their potent magic, and how their warriors were without honor and pride, hiding behind the mages and killing the men without setting foot on the battlefield. They spoke of their soldiers as savages without any sense of proper battle decorum."

"The very same deserters that were executed for cowardice?" Verminus muttered, not quite trusting the information and even if it were true, Verminus did not agree the way his young _Tribunus laticlavius_ dismissed their enemy so easily. "If that is so then we must be wary."

"Sorcery is a dying art," his Tribune said, "They take years of mastery, and those that reach any considerable talent with it, are more than likely old and gray. They will be of no trouble against our Legionnaires." Verminus remembered the Sorcerer Cato and his fierce fighting, able to slay a full cohort of Orsimer Guardsmen with his earth-shattering magic, and shook his head at the youthful ignorance of his Tribune.

"Regardless, inform the men of this development." The Tribune nodded and pulled back on the reigns of his horse as he went to speak with the rest of the Centurions. Verminus turned back to the wall and watched as his Legionnaires cut their way through the throng of the Italica defenders.

"Aim the ballistas!" Verminus yelled. The ballistas brought back their ordnance and positioned them so that they would hit the untouched sides of the walls, where the defenders were gathering. "Fire!" he yelled. The walls crumbled as the deadly projectiles impacted the wall, tossing people and debris into the air. The side of the wall sported a new gash, but was otherwise untouched of damage. He frowned, his eyes brow descending into a frown as he watched the battle. "At this rate the gates will never be open," he mumbled.

"Should we bring up the battering ram?" His Tribune asked when he returned, catching his thoughts spoken out loud. Verminus raised one of his eyebrows.

"I had not commissioned a battering ram to be made," he said. The Tribune smiled at him and pulled his horse to the Legate's side.

"The trees weren't going to disappear over a simple siege, and excessiveness can lead to decisiveness," the Tribune said.

"Sound wisdom," Verminus agreed. "Wait until we've cleared the walls, and have the battering rams move under shield cover."

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

Jean raced down the steps of the tower while defending himself against the slashes of the enemy. He blocked, dodged and parried while the female Gear rushed to the bottom. The place was 'too close-quarters' she said, and Jean wouldn't lie and say he understood what exactly that meant. Either way, he continued swinging his estocs in fluid motions, grinning as he knew the Imperials distaste to such tactics and preferred thrusting and grappling moves.

When he hit the last step, he kicked the Imperial he was fighting away and turned around. The Gear had tossed another of her explosives up onto the steps and the _èpèiste_ lunged to the open doorway as the wooden stairs exploded under the attack. The Imperials were either blown to pieces, or they fell to their deaths, bones breaking and skin ripping.

Jean fell to the ground roughly and a Halbardier pulled him onto his feet. The Italican reserve fighters all huddled close together at the gate, their halberds held tightly in their hands. " _Èpèiste_ ," the Captain yelled, "The walls! How far along the walls are they?!"

The _èpèiste_ frowned and gave the Captain a grave look. "Their past red, Captain Gawain." Captain Gawain frowned and rubbed his chin as he stared at the walls. His estoc was sheathed by his side, but Jean had his eyes drawn to the greatsword behind his back.

"Then it is as I feared," he replied. "I had known our men were too inexperienced, but the Imperials are just far too numerous to have even given us a slim chance. The Gears killed dozens at a time, yet the tide had yet diminished." Jean turned to the Gear who joined by the rest of her fellows, and they were sporting gashes on their arms and brows from deadly blades trying to impale them.

"Elaine," Sergeant Blaine greeted the female Gear as his squad of eight Gears reassembled. They were bruised and wounded, but not battered or close to dying. The wound stung, but they didn't have enough bite to even come close to stopping a Gear. "How was your side?"

"I blew up the stairs," she replied, "But truth be told I'm not sure that would stop them." Blaine nodded his head watching the Imperials cut down the Italican defenders at the front. He reloaded his weapon, having spent four magazines already. He wasn't used to this but he was adapting. Back then fighting Locusts was different. They had gun too, and they knew tactics. They took cover, and while the COG loved playing up the horde, they weren't actually, for all intents and purpose, a real horde. They only seemed that way because of their tough hides and reluctance to die. This was different, and Blaine knew it. At one point he had a dozen soldiers chase after him in close quarters. He managed to empty half his magazine, but due to the close quarters, he only managed to down a quarter of them. The rest attacked, and he learned quickly that his chainsaw bayonet wasn't designed to deal with the smaller and more agile Imperials in comparison to the Locust. The thing about the chainsaw bayonet, was that it was designed to rely heavily on inertia and weight to make it so effective against the Locust tough hides, and as such, the grip was designed to allow the blade to be held and swung one way; downwards. That wasn't the best option against other humans, especially not these much smaller ones and how they jumped onto him in close quarters and attacked him simultaneously.

Blaine had to grunt. He'd fought against monsters tougher and stronger than these shitheads, but that didn't necessarily mean it would make it easier to kill them. Truth was, he was so used to killing a far deadlier and greater threat, that he slightly lost his edged to dealing with the smaller threat. Especially since he had been adapted so well to killing the grubs, having signed on into the Locust war as he had been.

"We'll have to change strategies," Blaine told them, "Stick to short bursts, and maintain distance with the enemy. If you're dealing with a single one you can use your chainsaw bayonet in close range, but if there's more of them retreat while firing. They'll swarm you otherwise." There was a faint cut on his neck that agreed with him.

Elaine nodded her head and the Gears all lined up below the wall and began firing up into the Imperials side. Archers on the ground did the same and fired on the Imperials. Those with shields brought them forward to blow it, but the Gears weaponry made short work of it. The Imperials, realising that their flanks were open to the enemy no matter what they did, dropped low to the ground and scooted nearer to the other side of the wall, where the angle of the Gears line of sight to the edge of the wall would effectively hide the Imperials from sight and danger.

"Smart fuckers," Fernando growled. "Toss a grenade up there!"

"No!" Blaine said harshly, "We have allies up there." He pulled his Lancer back, and filed away the idea of requisitioning some Mk.I's for use later. He then pulled and tossed a flashbang up the wall. With a small bang and cackle, a loud roar of pained shouts and panicked screams hit them as Imperials wandered off the wall without their eyesight. The Italicans glanced at each warily as the Imperials apparently turned mad, grabbing their eyes in pain and running off to their deaths by either falling or straight into an _èpèistes_ estoc. They gave the Gears fearful glances, one muttering 'damn strange sorcery', under his breath loud enough for Blaine to hear.

Before he could say more, oversized arrows flew over the wall and crashed into the line of Halberdiers holding position below the wall. They scattered, but not before three of the men were grievously wounded from the attack. Blaine was about to call his men back when another arrow flew through the air and skewered Fernando where he stood. Gear armor was tough, but an oversized arrow as tall as Blaine was and just as wide proved to test its effectiveness, and it failed. It pierced through the armor, but apparently it had lost its kinetic energy and didn't manage to go all the way through, and had more than likely crushed and ripped apart Fernando's livers, pancreas, stomach, and a large part of his intestines. When the Gear hit the ground, his body fell sideways due to the momentum of the heavy ordnance.

"Fernando!" Selin shrieked, her Pesanga accent thick as she stared at Fernando's now cooling corpse. " _Fa'veh di'nukum nur'ya!_ " She hissed. _Dirty scum of whores and bastards._ Blaine gripped her rifle when it looked like she was going to get into a rampage, and she turned to him with a frown, before looking down towards her machete. "I should have used it from the start," she muttered.

Blaine agreed, at least it would have been far more useful than a bayonet. "Then use it," he said, "For Fernando." She hesitated but nodded her head and reached down to her machete, while pulling out a snub pistol in her other hand.

The gate rumbled, and all of the remaining Gears turned to it with surprise on their faces. "Battering ram," one of the Halberdiers shouted. Another thud hit the gate, and Blaine turned to Captain Gawain.

"Can your Halberdiers open up some space for her?" He asked while gesturing to Selin. "She's sneaky with her machete, and she might give your men an advantage." Gawain nodded and had his men make a space for the smaller girl. Some of then frowned as they eyed the tiny woman, who just barely reached their chest, and were worried for her. Blaine didn't blame them, Selin's small stature had made him wary too.

The gate shuddered again, and wood splintered off and onto the Halberdiers. "They're breaking through!"

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

Yash grunted as he quickly strapped on his fatigues and armor. He buckled his straps and belt into place and pulled his Lancer over his shoulder. His pistol was next and it fit snugly onto his bag as he picked up two grenades and stuffed them into his field pack. The Pesanga man then finished it off by pulling his machete out and securing it onto his hip. With everything set he quickly rushed out of the barracks and towards the Muster Point Zulu, where the Gears preparing to provide aid to the Italican defenders were heading.

As he ran he caught sight of Tuka, who was glancing at all the rushing soldiers with a frown. The elf had taken to traveling up onto _New Anvil Gate_ whenever she had the chance to talk and practice archery with Yash. She caught his eye and gave him a nervous smile when he stepped up to her.

"What's going?" Tuka asked. "Everyone down below heard the commotion and thinks we're about to be invaded."

Yash grunted, surprised at how close their assumption was. "The Empire attacked Italica," Yash said, and Tuka seemed to need a moment to comprehend just what exactly was going on.

"Italica? Isn't it too soon?" She muttered. "There's no way they could have rebuilt their entire army already in such a short amount of time."

"Reserves probably," Yash said thoughtfully. "Stay here, _leh'ta._ This isn't your battle."

Tuka smiled weakly at him, "If the Imperials attacked Alnus it will be my battle. I'm no stranger to battle, afterall. Besides, whatever fight you're fighting, _lai'ta_ , is mine too."

"Yeah," Yash muttered, "I thought you'd say that. _Jeh sa'mim, leh'ta."_ He gave her a small smile as he said that. _Peace follow you, Hunter Sister._

"To you as well, _lai'ta_ ," Tuka replied. Yash nodded his head and waved her goodbye before running off towards the Muster Zone. He reached that with just a second tardiness and met up with the rest of Recon-Two, who were preparing to head out with Bravo and Foxtrot Company.

He nodded to Jace, who was preparing to enter the Sea Raven, when Yash caught sight of the black dressed Apostle standing next to him. "She's tagging along with us?" Yash asked in surprise.

"Or you could be tagging along with me," she demurred. "In either case, I have an obligation to be in audience of such a battle." Yash looked to her, and by the way she hefted the Halberd, he wasn't sure she would actually be watching in a typical audience sense. He had never truly witnessed her strength, but Jace had warned him time and time again. Occasionally, he would show Yash his wrist after being dragged along by her and Yash would wince when he noticed the deep bruises. "Bernie also has an understanding with me."

Yash looked at Jace, aghast. "I know, it terrifies me too," Jace said with a shake of his head. "Truly, the machinations of the powers that be are beyond us." For some reason, Rory seem to beam at Jace when he said this and Yash frowned, pulling his chest armor worriedly.

"Indeed. In Pesang we have a saying. 'Let one's path be fraught with hardship, for times of peace shall be ever brighter'."

"Oh?" Rory said with a raised eyebrow, "That resembles the way of the Rurudo. Wisdom, within a certain sense, I agree. Life is not life without strife and violence, yet within that inevitability, there is joy. Without war, there is no peace, and without death, there is no life. Both words only gain meaning when accompanied with the other, for one alone is meaningless, and thus, has no value."

Jace seemed to look at her in amazement, and Yash noted how the man nodded his head. "There's always a light at the end of the tunnel," he agreed, "Of course, sometimes if one fights hard enough, he can make cracks big enough to let some light in."

Rory smirked and nodded her head, her eyes alight with some knowledge Yash didn't know. "Indeed," she agreed.

"I dare not think," Yash muttered, "The extremities of faith and philosophical disputes. I'd rather we focus on the mission."

"Right," Jace muttered. "Apparently Alguna has made an agreement with Italica to send reinforcements, and Anya booked it to Alguna to greet with the current king. Their troops have been dispatched, and Alguna has declared themselves allies of the USG and Italica."

Yash frowned, "That is...unexpected."

"The kings of Alguna have always been impulsive," Rory interjected, "And they've never liked the Empire, even before the Pacification War."

"Pacification War?" Yash asked with a raised eyebrow. Rory frowned thinking back on her long memories.

"It dates further back than I care to remember, but the Empire had been wrought with numerous rebellions. The Legions then began a war to pacify the rebellions, and many traitors fled to Alguna. In response, the Empire launched troops into Alguna after negotiations fell through, and Alguna had to hold back a five year campaign against the Empire," she explained.

"Understandable," Yash replied, "The COG might have responded the same way, depending on who you ask. It's a coin toss really."

"Hopefully that isn't true in the present," Jace frowned. "Enemies are enemies, and we should do what we can to deal with them, but not in the cost of gaining more enemies."

"Some say Aspho Point helped make us gain more enemies than we needed to," Yash retorted. "In either case, circumstances dictate action."

"That's rather obvious," Rory said. "No matter the situation, people will decide on the urgency and necessity of the current situation, and the standards of the Era. It's obvious in that sense." Of course, she was speaking from the knowledge and experience she had gained from her near century of life. To the short-lived like Jace and Yash, her words might be the loudest bullhorn in their faces, but meant very little in their lives, so they discarded it easily.

"We're moving up!" The pilot yelled at the front. "Saddle in, or you _will_ be in for a bumpy ride." With that threat made, the members of Recon-Two buckled into their seats.

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

Cole kept his eyes on the front as they made their way across the bloody ground. The further inwards they went, the more Cole realised that the soldiers hadn't been fighting to keep the Skaven out of town, but rather they were trying to keep them in.

All the bodies were positioned facing towards the town, lying on their backs and their faces still full of fear and desperation. Cole had seen plenty of corpses like that before, all of which had never heralded good news for anyone.

"These men are very young," Yao said as she passed the corpses, "Too young to be frank. New recruits, possibly?" She passed by a body, this one only wore half his armor and his entire bottom half was laid bare. It probably led to his death, as his thighs were cut up and torn up even worse than the rest of his body. "Most definitely recruits," Yao said with a frown.

"Aye, I'd agree," Dmitri said as he fiddled with his snub pistol. "The place is starting to get cramped. We may need to exchange our rifles for our sidearms."

"I'm small enough to fit through even with my Gnasher," Sam piped up. "If you need me too, I can take point Clay."

"Nah," Carmine shook his head, "I got it. I can already see an opening up ahead and I think it opens up to a cavern." Cole tried to look over Carmine's shoulder to see, but the place really was a tight fit and all it got for him was a new cut on his brow. "Alright, I'm moving through it now."

Carmine full body then popped out of a hole, his feet now slipping on wet rock as he tried to steady himself. Below him was a raging waterfall, no doubt the river had sunk into some crevice and was now gushing out from an underground opening. Cole popped out next and he marveled a little bit at the crystal lake.

"Man that looks almost good enough to drink," Cole muttered. "Not risking it though, wouldn't went to put my hand in and start tasting blood."

"The blood doesn't seem too strong here," Yao added in, "I don't think you'll have to worry about anything like that."

"Good to know, Baby Queen." Cole nodded his thanks to Yao. She kept her gaze downwards, blinking rapidly at the still confusing nickname. Dmitri gave her a small nudge and she gave him a weak smile when he nodded at her reassuringly.

"You think the town up above built a staircase or even a ladder to get down here?" Sam asked.

"Yup," Carmine said as he pointed to a staircase that led down to the cave floor. "Bodies there too." Cole grimaced but led the way towards the exit with his squad trailing behind.

"You think you could get a message out to Baird?" Cole asked.

Sam shook her head. "Couldn't get it out there, chances are I won't get it in here." She sighed as she stood up next to him. "There's something weird here. From the looks of things, these Skaven got into the Town walls and forced the soldiers to retreat, but funniky enough, where are the Skaven?"

"They might still be on the surface," Yao said, "Or they might have moved on. Tybe Mountain was never their home, you see. They belonged to Vymin Mountain, on Felirusha, but when their transport ships were shot down by Dwarven Galleons, the Skaven were stranded here and had, to their chagrin I might add, changed their name to the Tybe Mountain Skaven."

"Why's that?" Sam asked.

Yao shook her head as she carefully made her way around the side of the water. "Skaven, they don't like other species' you see. They think they're the best, the greatest race ever in existence. At times, that is true. I don't know the details, but the Holy Karsic Empire were at war with them for decades, and it was said that, if the Skaven had been more cooperative with each other, and had they used all their numbers, they would have swathed through the Dwarven holds and took Felirusha as their own. But the reason why the can't work together so well is because they don't trust each other. To them, they are perfect, and everyone around them is trying to undermine them in some way because their jealous."

"Sounds like a fun crowd," Carmine said sardonically. "Here I thought the Locust Queen was as conceited as you could get."

Sam shot Carmine a wry smirk. "I didn't even know you know the word conceited." Carmine made a soft grunt, trying to ignore what she said and failing. Before Cole could interject with his own tease, they heard chittering from above the staircase, and they all dove for cover.

The Gears huddled close together as a small pack of Skaven traveled down the stairs. "Dark manlings," one of them hissed, "They here, I smell 'em." Yao made a soft gasp as she pulled her knees close to her chest. Cole frowned, the word 'Dark manling' could mean anything really whe you put it to context.

"Town too quiet," another hissed. "They know! They know!" This one was brown-furred as opposed to the black-fur of the rest. "Baby bearers and their younglings; no where! Ran! Far; no smell, no hear. They know!"

"Too smart," another Skaven hissed, "What we do? Speak to Screecher? Trap, maybe?"

"Manlings cunning," Brown-fur said, "But Dark manlings more cunning."

"Dark manlings dangerous," one hissed, "They fight, we fight. They run to _Tybe_ mountain to slay us!" Cole didn't miss the way how the Skaven said Tybe; with great disdain.

"No kill Skaven," the biggest black-furred Skaven said, "Skaven better than them, stronger than them. Dark manling die soon enough, Dark manlings will die."

One of the black-furred ones started sniffing the air and Cole feared he might have found them. It turned its head towards Cole inquisitively and Cole tightened his grip on his Lancer. It would be easy to take these ones down, but were there more up the stairs? Would they have ran away from one horde to meet another? It moved towards them and Cole could see Carmine begin to pull out his knife. Then, the Skaven stopped and turned to the stairs.

"Argh," it groaned, "Screecher, calling us. Again? No want no stupid smart Skaven speech."

"No," the brown-furred one said, "Boring, yes. Keh, stupid Screecher." All of the Skaven present seem to agree with him, and with deliberate sluggishness, they made their way up the stairs.

"Eat manlings later," one of their voices echoed in a chidding manner. "Meat no going anywhere."

When they were gone, Delta squad slowly slinked out into the open. "That was...unexpected," Dmitri said with a raised eyebrow.

"What did they mean by 'Dark manling'? The way thy were talking, it didn't seem like they were talking about us," Sam asked.

Yao frowned as she stared at the staircase, "I-I don't know. They call us Dark Elves that when they find us, but, I don't think they were talking about us that time."

"Never thought I'd find racist rats in my life time," Dmitri muttered, "You did well not to panic, _fraulein_ ," he complimented Yao. The Dark Elf smiled at him, a little bit shyly, as she dropped to her knee.

"But it's scary though," Yao said, "This is the biggest number of Skaven I've seen in my lifetime. Their Warrior Priests are deadly enough by their own, and they worship Lavish, the god of Suffering and Damnation."

"I thought your god, Hardy, was the god of the underworld, aren't those the same thing? Doesn't Hardy watch over death and all that stuff?" Carmine asked, his eyebrow raised from beneath his helmet.

Yao shook her head, "Hardy reigns over the underworld. But she isn't the one that reigns supreme. Emroy governs over War, Violence, and Death, and deals specifically with the souls of soldiers or those who died violently. Lloydia is the god of Purity and of Unrivaled Devotion, those who died pure of heart and body, as well as having great devotion to Lloydia or to a mortal being while worshipping her, would move towards Lloydia. Hardy rules over Hell, indeed, but hell comes with many sections, and with each Hell comes a counterpart of Heaven. She merely reigns reigns over all Hell, and mediates the travel of souls, deciphering the demands of other gods and imposing her will over her domain."

Carmine had a big question mark over his head, no understanding the complicated religion system but Sam patted his big musclely arm reassuringly. "I'll explain it to you later."

"So what do you say?" Dmitri asked Cole. "Are we heading up?"

"Can't go back," Cole shook his head, "Leads to a dead end, unless you want to clim up a wall."

"So then," Carmine grunted.

"We go up the stairs," Sam said with a raied eyebrow.

"To the Skaven," Yao gulped.

"Damn, good thing I brought extra ammo," Dmitri said dismissively.

Cole nodded his head, a huge grin on his face. "Ain't nothing to be afraid, the Cole Train here's got your back!"

 **I'm way too tired and stressed out to have a go at making my AN too exuberant. So, yeah, the Gears can whoop the Imperials ass anyday, but the Imperials are based on Roman soldiers, who were some of the most adaptive and modern army at the time. They carried** _ **spades**_ **, something only the Germans had been able to revolutionize with during WWI with heavy trench warfare. So, yea, they'd get whooped, and yea, they can't give an army of gears a run for their money, but they'd try. Now, I broke up the chaoter here a bit. The next half of this chaoter goes on in the next page. Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I wr it e verything on my phone in google docs, so after like 4000-ish words my phone starts lagging and I have to wait every sentence for my keyboard to catch up. So, yea, you've probably notice my awkward way of cutting up chapter. Sry in advance, if some of you are put off by it.**


	11. Chapter 11

The Rose Order of Knights cut their way through the defenders when the gate fell to the battering ram. Pina's herself was incredibly ecstatic by the defenders amateurism, as they were incapable of bringing their spears up in order to dissuade a charge. So rather than have the route that she had anticipated, her Knights instead trampled the defenders beneath a sea of hooves and steel.

Pina held her hands high as her Knights fanned out by her sides, and the Italicans quickly routed from their position and began setting up at a second barricade located further inside the city limits. Despite the stakes put into the ground, they had been maneuvered just low enough that a properly trained warhorse could have no trouble jumping over. Unluckily for them, all of her Knights had properly trained warhorses under them.

"Cavalry!" Pina called, projecting her voice in the way that she was trained to command respect and authority. "Forward!" She would have yelled, yet, despite her order, her Knights failed to execute it fluidly as she had imagined. Instead, they began dropping like flies behind her. Surprised her horse reared up and panicked. "W-what?"

"There's someone cutting down our horses!" Norma yelled as he pulled his horse to the side, but this had placed him right beside the barricade, and an Italican Spearman jabbed his spear into Norma's chest plate, pushing him off the saddle of his horse and causing him to crash onto the ground. His horse reared up and jumped over the barricade in fright, and at the very least, as an animal, rather than a warhorse, it managed to break the left formation of defenders.

More and more of her Knights were being thrown off their horses as the bred and trained animals began dropping to the ground. Pina couldn't help but panic in this situation. Her Knight's greatest advantage was the elevation and dexterity provided to them while being horseback. On foot and surrounded by Italican archers, as well as encumbered by heavy armor, they'd be sitting ducks for the defenders. To that end, her Knights were also untested, and it'd be silly to put them up against an entrenched and prepared enemy threat.

However - It would be cowardly for her to order her Knights to retreat while in the face of the enemy. In her mind, a Knight would never be so disgraceful as to show their backs to the enemy. Despite the Legion behind them still trickling into formation, the Legate entrusted her the duty of at least weakening the gate defences. The barricade would count under the category of the gate defense, and wasting Legion manpower on them when the cavalry was supposed to have cleared it would be a waste.

Yet she also did not know why their horses were falling so randomly and without reason. Even if she were to order the remaining Knights on horseback to charge, how many of their horses would fall before they reached the barricade? How many of her Knights would be able to jump across and then get swarmed on the other side? "It's a woman killing our horses!" Someone yelled.

Pina's eyes widened. Then if that were the case. "All horses charge, all Knights support the cavalry!" Pina jumped off her horse, and slapped the butt of her warhorse with her scabbard. The animal neighed and fortunately for Pina, it ran towards the barricade, jumped across the stakes, and disrupted the Italican lines just enough for her charging Knights to slam into their lines with minimal losses.

When her feet touched the ground, she was also relieved to see the older veteran members of the Order charge forward to the barricade without pause. However, the Noble Women that the Rose Order of Knights were known for had stopped themselves beside Pina. "Princess!" Bozes said. "There is the woman that's been killing our horses!" She pointed a slender figure at strangely armored woman who was retreating to the left barricade wing. Her forces had charge down the center, which was the right choice now that Pina was able to see the current situation. Because of the defenders inexperience, the men on the side had moved to support the center formation, leaving the sides open for the Legion to flank them.

Because of this, the woman was caught out in the open, with only the space between her and the Knights keeping her safe from them. Pina couldn't allow someone who defaced her Knight Order so thoroughly to get away without reprimand. If she were to do that then her Knights would only lose face to the Nobles of the Empire, and their future as ceremonial guards would become cemented. "Do not let her escape!" She ordered.

Her Knights answered with a resounding cry and charge forward with their swords. The woman turned and twisted around to meet them. Her hands reached down to her waist and pulled out a crossbow type object from a holster. Pina felt the color drain from her face. "Cheater!" She cursed. How unfair, to pull out a crossbow in the middle of the battlefield! Even though they were Knights, it didn't change the fact that they were Noble daughters, and while Pina was a Princess, it was only natural for her to prioritize the safety of the Nobles bloodlines rather than place them in unnecessary danger. Still, the nerve of this shameless woman.

Even though Pina thought this, she knew that on the battlefield any measure was preferable to death, and at the end of the day, if you remove the evidence, who was to say you did anything dishonorable at all?

Just as she was to order them to drop to the ground, the woman was caught off balance from a spear thrown by a Legionnaire that marched through the gate. Her off balance led her to miss her shot, and the next thing Pina heard was a horrible wrenching of metal and guts as the Knight beside her was thrown backwards. "G-GYaaAAaAaAh!" She cried out as she pressed her arm around her stomach, were a hole the size of a fist was currently located and where blood was leaking out and drenching the ground beneath her wet with red.

"Tania!" Someone yelled and another Knights dropped to her knees to help her fallen comrade.

"Tch! Protect the Princess!" Bozes commanded and Pina was forcefully pulled back into a circle of her Knights protecting her with their bodies. She bit her lip, completely appalled by the idea of used her Knights as meat shields, but knowing that it was the acceptable course of action. The Knights lined up ahead of Pina and the Legionnaires, now fully formed on the other side of the gate, began to advance towards the barricade.

The woman who had killed their horses, and had effectively taken her cavalry off the field of battle, quickly turned and fled the area. Pina watched her go for a moment, before turning to look up at a Centurion who stopped beside them. "Princess, your assistance in the breach is much appreciated, however, the Legate has ordered for you to recall your forces while the Legion marches through."

Pina sighed and turned around to see that her Knights were now completely without their horses, For the amateur Italicans, rather than aiming for the Knights atop their steeds, they instead chose to mercilessly attack the unprotected horse. If this continued her Knights would have to fight a foot battle, and that would be far too dangerous.

"Legion form up!" The Centurion commanded and they formed up into a shield wall. Pina noticed it and yelled at the top of her lungs for her Knights to retreat once the Legion reaches them. Her Knights roared their agreement, and hearing that, the morale of the Italican defenders began to break as they started retreating for the Citadel. Pina was left to watch as her Knights cheered in victory, and frown in utter dismay at the sight of several dead Knights on the ground, bleeding from stab wounds. She turned around and saw one of the Noble girls standing silently over the cooling corpse of Tania as the Legionnaires began their march for the Citadel.

Pina felt her face go rigid seeing the casualties of her Knights as they fled to the safety of the shield wall. She looked at Norma, who had joined the Order simply to be a Knight-aide and hadn't been a member of her eight year long Knight School. He was covered in sweat and blood, and his arm was hanging limp by his side. It showed that he had been fighting with the frontline throughout the battle, but in his eyes there was a deep weariness and a will to return home.

Pina wasn't so detached from reality that she thoughts her Knights would be able to win the fight without casualties. In contrast, she had expected to take casualties, expected some complication that might lead to her Knight Order being turned into nothing more than a remnant of what it once was. Seeing her Knights standing over the body of Tania, silent and respectful as befitting a Knight, a heavy weight rested on Pina's shoulders. But that weight was light, because there was a fire in her heart. Despite their losses, despite the death, this was Pina's first time in the cold harsh reality of war. It was an exhilarating experience. Her sword crossed with three others in battle, and though short, it was everything she expected it to be. Even the unknown magics applied by that armored mage girl added to that experience.

Despite the losses, she gained something that day. Even if war was cruel and cold, even if there was a chance that one day Pina would be captured and turned into toy, or that she would suffer having boiling water thrown on her, she would have it done on her own terms. As a Knight. This was a truth she was looking for all along. From the very first time the seed had been planted in her head. She could no longer be just Princess Pina. She was also now Commander Pina Co Lada of the Rose Order of Knights, tested and true in their very first battle.

But staying here would not be the best for them. Her Knights were tired and battle-weary, and so she called them back and they moved away from Italica, their place in the battle now then. Knights like them whose only advantage was the horse did not belong in urban quarters and as such they were to return to Legate Verminus. Perhaps if she had brought along her infantry, where all of them were trained and experienced professionals, and thus the core of the Rose Order of the Knight's military potential, they'd have been able to push along with the Legion but with the Knights on their own, it would be too optimistic.

"We are falling back!" She ordered. Immediately, the NCO and veteran soldiers that were among the cavalry unit immediately began calling the men back, and it was a point of pride for her to see her Knights quietly and efficiently gather Tania's corpse and line up in perfect military cohesion. Despite what the nobles would warrant to think of her unit, they weren't just a bunch of girls playing dress up. For eight years they trained, since they were kids, and for eight years they sharpened themselves with their drills. If they lacked in skill and experience, they made up for it in their education and steadfast dedication to their training. "Centurion I relinquish command to you."

"I accept your command," the Centurion replied and he looked at Pina for a moment. In that moment she saw a soldier who was looking in quiet respect and sympathy to a fellow commander on the battlefield. "Alright! Rotate the troops every hundred counts! The freshest troops take the front!" Pina felt joy when she heard that, and see the Legionnaires masterfully execution of the attack.

Unlike the barbarian tribes, the Imperial Army should their discipline by not letting a single soldier fight on their own. They fight as a unit, and the Centurions and field officers would maintain the flow of combat, rotating the freshest troops from the front and move them to the back. This was how soldiers were supposed to behave. This was how the Empire was able to nearly own the entirety of the world.

Pina gathered her Knights and left Italica's walls, and she heard the resounding cry of the Centurions on the walls shouting about how the Legionnaires were already drawing near to the citadel as the Italican defenders retreated. She felt pride well up in her as she accepted the horse Verminus' Tribune offered her and took her place on it skillfully. Bozes and Panache did the same with other Imperial officers giving up their horses to the noblewomen. Just as the sun was reaching midway in the sky, and she felt that Italica was soon to belong to the Empire, she heard two things.

One was the sound of the air being displaced by large sharp blades in the air, and the second was loud explosions within Italica proper itself, followed closeby the screams from the Imperial Lines. Then she looked to the sky and realised a concept that would have once been completely unknown to her.

Aerial superiority.

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

"What do you mean we're peeling off half the attack force?" Jace asked as he gripped tightly on the pilot's chair. The Raven was soon to be reaching the city of Italica and Yash was already gearing the men to rappel down to the battlezone.

"I don't know! All I know is that half the force is getting peeling off to Elbe for whatever reason," the pilot replied as he glanced back at Jace. "Doesn't matter! You got your own worries to think about! I can't use any missiles to prepare a landing zone for you boys, we don't have the clearance for small scale engagements like this! So clear out a path on your own with the turret."

Jace frowned, he already knew that but now that the pilot brought up he knew that their conversation was practically over. "Yash!" Jace yelled.

"Got it!" He said and took up the turret. Jace brought himself around and grabbed the other turret left remaining. He could see a large concentration of Imperial Army soldiers inside Italica proper, and since landing outside Italica would only aggravate them into moving deeper into the city and thus harming their allies, Jace gave the order to fire into the streets. "Do not fire on the buildings!" Jace ordered.

"I'll try!" Yash replied. Then a steady thrum of noise was heard as 8.87mm rounds were fired into the mass throng of soldiers concentrated on the streets. Since they were so densely packed with each other, and that they were on wide open streets, it was like shooting at practically nothing. They barely had to aim as their bullets created a literal sea of blood in the streets. Even Jace was disturbed at how the army of men wearing bronze armor suddenly turned crimson.

The Imperials started to route in fear, but Jace could see Centurions moving to gather the army back again. The two other King Ravens with them began circling around the main army and dropping squads of soldiers onto the rooftops. Seeing this Jace gave the order Recon-Two to rappel onto the streets. They whole point of the attack was to drive the enemy out, but because of the hurried actions that took place, only the Recon teams were deployed. The Gears Rapid Response teams were still dealing with stragglers from the Allied Armies marching around Alnus Hill preying on Alnus Hill merchants.

But another part of Jace wondered how such a large army of Imperials were able to move without gaining the attention of the native people or Italicans. Even aerial surveillance from New Anvil Gate would have seen them. Most of the reason stemmed from the Imperials scorched earth plan that was enacted when the Gears reached the other side of the gate. Because of this, the villages and towns that stood in the way of the Imperial Capital and Alnus Hill were gone, and the people had long since vacated. Because of this, the army was able to move without anyone noticing them in their own territory, as even their own people have no fled out of their way.

"Down! Down! Down!" Jace ordered and Recon-Two rappelled down with military proficiency. Going down must have took close to thirty seconds, because when Jace's boots finally hit the ground, the Imperials Army had managed to reform with the lack of fire and place their shields up to meet him. Since now they could clearly see the enemy and knew what their objective was, despite their enemy carrying overwhelming firepower, the men were now able to strive for a goal. It went without saying, but when a human being who was backed into a corner was attacked by a vulture, he would naturally try to find a way to escape even though he was backed into a corner, but if a human being was being attacked by a lion, then because they were backed to a corner, they would fight with all they had.

"Open fire!" Leana yelled as an arrow flew past her ear. Despite the fact that Jace hadn't given the order, he and the rest of the team pointed their weapons forward and let loose a volley of bullets in the mess of tangled limbs and flesh.

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

Centurion Brentus felt his palms get sweaty as he saw the first line of men fall to the enemies magic. But despite this he gritted his teeth and called for his men to adapt. "Charge forward!" Due to the experience he had fighting these very same magic abilities on the walls, Brentus knew the only way for his men to be able to survive this encounter is if they dropped their formation and simply charged their enemy with everything they had. The densely packed area didn't allow them to use the dodging techniques the soldiers on the walls had used and, thus, this was the only answer.

The Legionnaires did as ordered and began bounding forward, unforgivingly crushing the wounded soldiers beneath their feet to attack the enemy. Usually their slow advance would be handled systematically, as fresh troops rotated to the front, tired soldiers would retreat, dragging injured and wounded with them. But because everyone was charging at once, there could be no helping these wounded soldiers. The crux of their plan was being able to negate the enemy's magic capability with the sheer meat wall heading towards them. This was only natural. This was the only method for the Empire to fight against this enemy.

Then fire began dropping on them from the sky. "They're on the roofs!" Someone yelled. "They're on the roofs!" Brentus stopped and glared up at the buildings to see several of the large golem people point their weapons down and fire on them from the rooftops. Knowing that his men would break under such pressure, he rescinded his previous order and made a new one. "Take cover in the buildings!" Because their enemies could break through their shields without problem, the best thing that they could do was run in the buildings and hope the enemy gave choice and used the extreme close quarters to their advantage.

Brentus shoulder tackled a door to his side and he was opened up to what appeared to be a tavern's main dining room. A wide open space perfect for him and his men. He jumped in and ten other soldiers moved in with him. Brentus could hear other soldiers breaking down doors and running to the safety of Italica's interior but the sound of the enemy magics was still rattling down street. The screams of death and destruction was like a foreboding call of the reaper.

"Get into cover!" He ordered and hopped over a cocobolo desk that separated the dining room with the kitchen. He landed and eased himself beneath it, waiting for when the enemy would push their way in. One of the men was hiding next to the door and the others had overturned the tables and took cover behind them.

Brentus readjusted his grip on his sword but regretted the action as now his grip felt awkward and wrong. It was just his nerves and fear, but suddenly everything started feeling wrong. The feeling of his armor against his skin felt like they had been knotted up and twisted, while the soles of his boots suddenly felt hard and sandy. Brentus hands was shaking and he gripped his wrist tight.

"Ah," he muttered. "I want to see my wife." Suddenly he remembered. The floor of his wife was very scratchy and hard because the wood wasn't that great in quality. His homespun clothes were always bunching up his sides and his wife would always hold his hand when they sat together for dinner.

The relationship Brentus had with his wife was strange. When he decided to marry his wife she had told him, 'I don't love you, I'm only doing this to secure my future,' and Brentus didn't mind. There were a lot of virtues that came with marriage so he accepted it just fine, but at the time he was deluding himself. Then after a year he and his wife started getting used to their roles and then they had became friends. It was only two years after their marriage did they consummate their relationship and it was a half year later that they came to love each other.

Brentus had once said to her, "What an extraordinary love story we have," and she told him that he was only kidding himself. But he believed it wholeheartedly and he really had come to love her dearly. That was why his vision became blurred with tears. Was this how his story supposed to end? Was this how that one extraordinary moment in his life supposed to conclude? Despite all the feelings inside of him Brentus only wanted to come back home, meet his wife, and tell her very truthfully that he hadn't accepted the marriage because he wanted the money or the security of her family, or did he want her father's retirement in the army to help boost his chances if he enlisted. He accepted the marriage because he truthfully thought her beautiful and the reason why he hadn't touched her for a year was because he didn't want her to see him as a means to an end. He wanted her to love him back as well. He wanted to ask for forgiveness. There were so many things he wanted to do when he got back to her.

I won't die here," he muttered. Then he heard metal boots hit the wooden floor and one of his soldiers scream out. There was a loud clang of metal against metal and the whole tavern dining hall suddenly exploded into noise. Brentus gritted his teeth and pulled himself to his feet, hopping over the desk and rushing towards the first enemy he saw. It was a woman, she didn't seem that different from his wife, except for her tanned skin and short hair, but Brentus didn't care about that. She was busy fending off an attack with her stave so her back was wide open for Brentus.

He knew that his weapon would not pierce her armored chest so he swung low for her waist. It striked perfectly but the black suit beneath it managed to cut the momentum in his swing and his blade only managed to go in as far as his fingers width went. The girl scream out and Brentus swung his free hands fist into the back of her head. She fell unconscious from the attack. His man tried to stab her but Brentus grabbed him around the neck and pushed him to floor as another enemy came around and was about to slice his man up using the blade attack to his gun.

Brentus brought his sword up to block to strike but a loud whirring sound was heard and sensing danger, Brentus immediately let go of his sword just as his blade snapped to two. He unconsciously gulped at the sight of blade snapping into two then lunged forward and gripped the stave by its top. There was a strange cross in a circle atop it and Brentus grabbed it for leverage and tugged in. The stave fell out of the man's hands and Brentus punched him square in the face. Despite how he knew it was cowardly he also punched the man's throat, where his adam's apple should be. The man stumbled backwards, grabbing his neck as he choked.

Brentus turned around and realised four his men were dead or dying already and that another enemy was racing to meet him, this one carrying a short sword. The man swung the blade but it couldn't break his armor. In reaction Brentus wrapped his arms around the enemies outstretched hand and dropped to the ground, dragging the enemy with him. As the enemy stumbled Brentus rolled away and took off to the second level, dragging one of the few surviving soldiers under his command with him.

The raced up the stairs and Brentus stopped just in front of a grand oak dresser with a mirror above it and a potted plant resting on the table, showing off the wealth and security of the person who owned the tavern, and pushed it down the stairs. It tumbled down and managed to slow down the enemy.

Then Brentus turned to the last surviving members of his unit, a young man named Firentis, and glanced down the end of the corridor. There was a window there, it was just a simple window that provided a simple view of the market street below. But to Brentus, it showed salvation. "Jump!" He ordered.

The man nodded tersely and took off running down the corridor towards the window and so did Brentus right behind him. It must have been a short distance, about ten strides and they would have reached it, but to the two of them it felt the longest run they've ever had in their life. It felt the weight of the whole world was pushing down on them trying to stop them in their tracks.

Brentus ran, the light from the outside burning so bright in his vision they caused spots to appear in his eyes. Firentis his it first, his legs lifting him off the ground and allowing him jump straight through the window and Brentus was right behind him, but just before he fully cleared the wall a loud bang was heard and a sharp, almost unbearable, sting pierced his side. He was suddenly spun in place and his eyes were suddenly focusing on the sky. It was a majestically blue sky, with hues of white licking around the area, as though a sort of cream topping on some nobleman's dish. Brentus looked at it and thought, 'My wife is just as beautiful as this,' and in his mind he knew that this was just the last selfish thought of a faithful man. To condemn whatever powers that be and to show them just how cruel they were. Then he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head as he crashed against the hard Italica soil. He coughed out blood, and he worried if he might have a concussion.

Firentis came around and look down at Brentus. "Leave me," he ordered. "Save yourself and leave me." This was the least he could do the young man who deserved to live more than Brentus.

"I'm not living you here, sir," Firentis said as his eyes spoke of a boy who suddenly lost everything, meaning, purpose, and friends, and was trying to keep one last flame alive. "I'm getting you out of here." He reached down and grabbed Brentus around the collar, dragging him with him towards the alleyway that was just in his sight. Brentus felt pain flare up from back but didn't dare stop the boys wholehearted attempt.

He looked up at the window and saw a black tribal man, wearing the armor of the enemy look down on him. Brentus feared that they would be killed. That they were going to be mercilessly ripped to shreds by the enemies weapons which turned their devotion, their honor into something so cheap. 'Please,' he thought pitifully, 'let me go, run and tell my wife the things I wanted to tell her!; But as he thought these things the man in the window disappeared and Brentus was left to stare numbly in fear at where the man was standing.

"Sir, we'll get out of this, I promise," Firentis said and Brentus believed him. With the direction they were going Firentis and him would be exiting from the South gate which would lead them towards the Coan Forest.

Brentus frowned and immediately swallowed to will his resolve. "Pull me up my feet," he said, "I'm not planning on getting dragged around by you." Firentis paused and reached down to drape Brentus' hand over his shoulder then started moving towards the exit again, this time side by side as soldiers who narrowly avoided an enemy larger than them.

o0o0 **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

"We've got fierce fighting on the streets but for the most part the enemy is in full retreat," Yash said as his Gears mopped up the last of the enemy. Sergeant Blaine, who had rode down in his armadillo when the reinforcements arrived was standing next to Yash coordinating his Gears with the reinforcements.

"Lucky you guys came down," Blaine said, "I thought about making a suicide charge down the street with the armadillo, clog up the streets and run over a few Imperials, but it would have stalled and we would have been setting ducks."

Jace nodded his head and turned to look at the Gears on the walls. "If the enemy is retreating let them be. Our mission was the defend Italica from invasion, our orders didn't go any further than that, so don't chase after retreating infantrymen." Since all of them were Sergeants on their squads, Jace was ranking officer over all of them, as he was the most senior.

"Tell that to the priestess chick," someone said and Jace looked up to see Rory slaughtering her way through dozens of Imperials soldiers at a time. Her kill count was already close to seventy by Jace's estimates. "Holy shit dude, she is one scary ass bitch. If she looked ten years older, I'd so try my hand with her!"

"Don't stick your dick in crazy dude," somebody else said.

"Knock it off. She's not officially a member of the Gears so it doesn't matter what she does. Regardless, I don't think she'll start chasing after anyone if they leave Italica's walls," Jace said, or at least he hoped that was the case. "Everybody, we're mopping up toward the Citadel."

"I've got a girl out on the streets dealing with the stragglers, she's been cutting off Imperials moving in the alleyways since they entered. She's told me that most of the enemy had been moving to encircle the citadel before you arrived so they're probably spread out around Italica," Blaine told him.

"Somebody get a call out on those choppers and tell them to circle around and suppress any enemies they find. Everyone on the roofs rappel down. We are on the move people!" Jace ordered.

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

The retaking of Italica was quick and bloody. Pina, who had not witnessed what the Imperials soldiers had, was shocked to see the Imperials run away from the Italican gates as though they were being chased by death itself. Then she saw it, she saw it as Rory the Reaper herself killed a dozen men with a single swing of her Halberd. She felt herself become faint, she felt herself become incapable of comprehending what was going on.

But because she already knew existences like Rory lived in this world, she understood it very quickly. Rory had allied herself with the foreign invaders, perhaps this had been ever since they passed through the Gate. Creatures like the apostles and their gods were existences that nobody in Falmart could understand. Who could understand the machinations of them and their apostles. So in sight of this Pina gained many revelations that her mind, as smart and intelligent as it was, was able to deduce. Rory had allied with the foreigners and fought with them against the Allied Army, and while the enemy still had their strange magic and were seemingly capable of standing off against a Flame Dragon, no doubt Rory did most of the work and Rory was the one that demoralised the Allied Army and allowed the foreign army to slaughter the enemy.

Of course this was the mindset of someone who was misinformed, or lacking crucial data. If she was dealing with a country who had came from a foreign continent, then her assumptions would mostly be correct, and she was right not to completely disregard the enemies battle potential. But she was sorely mistaken if she believed that the Gears were benefitting militarily from Rory. If anything Rory was benefitting being with them. Thus that was simply a misjudgement on her part.

Now that she was locked into this frame of mind, her biggest fear was now not the Gears, but Rory herself. She must now ascertain why Rory had allied herself with them, but she knew that that was a useless endeavor and disregarded it. Now she must think about how their enemies were to deal with this strange new enemy. Most of the Noble of the Empire paid tribute to the god Costra, as evident by Pina's middle name being Co. Despite this, most soldiers worshipped Emroy, and this may clashed and directly demoralise the Imperial Army if they were to fight against Rory. Countermeasures had to be put in place against the enemies magic too, just as she had witnessed, that had led to the death of a noble woman.

Pina believed that the Empire would be fighting one of the hardest fights it would have yet, but it was vast, thus, she believed it would persevere. If she had seen the destruction that they wrought in the streets of Italica perhaps she would realise better, if Rory had not slaughtered most of the witnesses of the attack, maybe she would have been notified, but she was not, and that made the world of difference.

 **New map information has been updated on the wiki and a whole world map was revealed, which is kinda shitty because now my Dwarven Kingdom and other countries I planed to create with another continent is at risk. But since this is fanfic, I can retcon it. People have told me that Jacinto would probably not be a place to rebuild, and that is my fault from lack of gathering information, but since its already set in stone, just imagine jacinto still standing. Also from the map details apparently the Empire really is huge, like massively huge. Not even the roman empire was that huge. i'm glad I didn't touch on how big the Empire was in the fic proper, if not that would be a bitch to deal with. Anyways, if you've guys seen the full map, I'm basically retconning everything that isn't the main continent and will be adding my own additions on extra continents and empires. All this information wasn't on the wiki last I check when I started writing this, and honestly the Gate wiki is barebones that it isn't worth it, so it can't be helped.**

 **I've began reading the LN for Gate and I firmly believe that the manga and anime have generalized and exaggerated the story greatly. I mean the story still isn't groundbreaking and amazingly well written, but there were things in the LN that looked to be purposefully cut off in the manga and the anime, and there were things that seemed to be greatly exaggerated. Granted I only reached to the point of the shootout at the inn, but so far I think the LN was a lot more agreeable to me.**

 **Honestly, Lelei and Rory are a lot more mature and developed in the LN, granted its still not by much, but at least from the start I know what her character was and there wasn't any discrepancy in that where I could steer her wrong in the fic. In this fic I had been writing Lelei as an afterthought as I was still dealing with her character and where she was going, but from the LN a lot of things have been made easier for me. A lot of fics had portrayed Lelei as this silent little girl who is overtly curious but still cute, who would accept a guy rubbing her head with close eyes and a content expression. In the LN Lelei from the first line was revealed to be very cold and logical. She didn't understand why humans were so contradictory in their actions in wanting to run away from the Flame Dragon so frantically but weighing themselves down by luggage. While that undergoes some discrepancy in the later chapters, as to facilitate the creation of the harem, she is still the same cold person, albeit, with a more sociable side as to be expected from someone who is an apprentice to a famous sorcerer.**

 **Rory is more like the Rory in my fic, in fact she made a speech during the National Diet that honestly fits in with one of the speeches I made her say in the fic and which she never made in the anime and manga. Albeit she does say things expected of someone who's lived 900 years in the manga, she never made speeches like that.**

 **Honestly even Itami isn't that bad of a character in the LN. His otakuness in the LN isn't driven to the ground and over the top like the anime, or dealt with in a way that makes it in your face and very dishonest. While he is still an otaku, and he is expressed in a lazy and care-free attitude, it's not so blatant in the LN and he doesn't have as many cheezy or greasy dialogue. Honestly he's more of a generic go with the flow MC so common in harem action animes, except he has the extra cruz of being lazy and not caring about anything beyond resting and enjoying himself.**

 **Even the nationalism is downplayed in the LN. When Kuribayashi was exaggerating the Rangers abilities, unlike the manga and anime, the LN made sure to announce that she was greatly exaggerating. In the LN, they really do mention how the JSDF is mostly outclassed by other armies, and their only advantage is their technology. The LN also feels like it has a disdain to Japanese people in general and their behaviours. It's really hard on their government, and though yes there is that inkling of overplaying the JSDF it isn't so overthetop. Of course this all before the arc where they go kill the Flame Dragon so I could be vastly wrong. But from these first few chapters alone I can't help but the feel the manga and anime generalized things a little too much and stereotyped them too much. While yes the characters are stereotypes, the original introduction at least gives off the impression that there is something more to them. Instead Itami gets turned into a crude representation of an Otaku and the harem girls get nice quiet personalities just distinct enough to keep people from merging all three of them together.**


	12. Chapter 12

Alnus City was built in too short a time. Have you ever heard the phrase 'Rome wasn't built in a day'? Well a City wasn't either. It was only due to the sheer circumstances that the City was built on that led to this amazing feat.

Let us explain in simple terms, as even someone viewing this scene objectively would not know how to describe it in more complicated terms. It is what is is.

The framework of Alnus City was created when the refugees of Coda village opened up a store to sell Wyvern scales. As merchants came to buy the very profitable scales, the refugees gained money to buy daily necessities and luxury items. In another world, the Coda refugees would have hired workers and dwarven architects to build stores and buildings for them, but unlike in that world, the USG had every intention to make the land around Alnus their own. So the Engineering Corp that traveled to this side of the Gate began building apartment complexes and buildings for Alnus City. The Coda refugees knew that they were, in some ways, immigrants to the USG. That was fine, as simple villagers, it was normal for them to be victims to the squabbles of Nobles, and the passing of control between lands mattered very little to them. Of course, it helped that the USG was the one that offered them salvation when they lost everything.

As such, unlike in a certain world, the architecture of Alnus City had a very Seran feel to it. While not grand in any way, it was still impressive to the eyes of the Coda refugees and Empire merchants. They weren't large building that would wow anyone, but they certainly had a very noble and wealthy feeling to it. None of them were made out of sturdy white mortar like New Anvil Gate, but they were still quality wood that was smooth to the touch.

The Engineering Corp helped reconstruct the Coda Villagers store, making it bigger and more wealthy looking, allowing the Villagers to sell more items, mainly weapons and Seran luxury items, pens and paper, that were given to them by the USG. As merchants came to buy these items, they were amazed by the architecture of the USG ranches, their produce, and the various exotic goods on sale. The increasing trade made it so that the Refugee shop had to continuously send requests to the Gate and to local merchants to restock goods in their shop.

This was the start of a vicious cycle. As more was asked to be imported, many entrepreneurs began realising that Alnus was a place where they could strike it out big. Both Seran and Falmart businessmen came to Alnus looking to start their businesses. Seran entrepreneurs opened up a canteen selling Seran food, a shop selling hunting goods, a bar, and a gym, with Seran workers coming to work; all of them ex-Gears by the way. Local entrepreneurs came to open their own canteen selling local food, shops to sell local arms, and an ironworks with a smith.

Merchants that traveled to Alnus brought with them mercenaries, and they both spent money in Alnus on both local and exotic produce. Traders then opened roadside shops to sell small tribal trinkets and gems, and mercenaries that followed these traders then decided to make Alnus their main base of operations. They lodged houses at Seran and local inns, and the constant travel of merchants meant they always had money to spend on the gym, on food, and on lodgings.

Since the Seran inns and canteens were being provided with the Seran ranches and farmers, local farmers from nearby villagers made the migration to Alnus, and they sold their produce with the local canteens and inns. Soon enough, the farming community in Alnus grew strong and Seran and local farmers began sharing techniques and produce. Before long the farmers families and local villagers began moving to Alnus. The Seran and local arms shops sold hunting equipment that farmers children and some villagers were able to make a living hunting and selling pelts and ingredients to the Coda refugee shop that was popular among Merchants and Sorcerers; thanks to the influence of Kota and Lelei.

Alnus City had, in a short time, become a cultural hot pot. Animal people, Imperials, League mercenaries, Alguna villagers looking for a fresh start following the turbulent rise of their next king, and various wandering magicians looking for a place to do their research came to Alnus City, turning it into what was essentially a tourist trap of not just exotic Seran wares, but exotic _everything_.

Italica and the USG benefitted greatly with the success of Alnus City. Italica, having a trade agreement with the USG, and by extension Alnus City, was able to buy various wares and sell them in Italica. They also had a discount of Wyvern scales which their blacksmiths were able to make quality products with and sell in bulk to various Kingdoms, with lesser qualities being sold to the Empire. It was no secret that Italica rested on a well frequented trade route but now with their near bandit free roads and straight path to Alnus, the amount of trade in the city was bustling. If not for the Imperial attack, the streets of Italica would have been packed with people.

The USG was able to buy items in bulk thanks to the merchants traveling to Alnus from all over Falmart. Silks, textiles, metals, and various ceramics were brought over in large amounts and paid for from the earnings that Alnus City and the importations of goods made. With these items, industry in Sera was coming back to life. Picture it like this, with a planet completely destroyed and infrastructure a shell of it once was, Sera had to practically start from scratch, but now, with an outside source of supplies, Sera was able to rebuild faster, kickstart production that much faster, and become independent again that much faster. Like it or not, for now, Sera was dependant on Falmart, but soon enough they would rebuild, and it was beginning in Falmart.

Newt and Hoffman knew this, so they made sure that Alnus City was still in the control of the USG. Since the Military Police were still needed on Sera, and the Gear forces on the other side of the Gate were still small in number - well, for both Falmart and pre-Locust war Sera standards - they had brought in former constables to formalize a police force in Alnus. Since Alnus City could be designated under occupied land, until the cease of hostilities between the USG and the Empire, Alnus City was considered under martial law of the Gears. Despite that, Newt didn't want to turn the inhabitants of Alnus City against them, nor did she want to use Gears patrolling the streets - just as an aside, they were very well made streets that garnered praise from many people - an act which could be seen negatively by the populace. It was then decided that a local police force, made up of local volunteers, would handle the daily crimes of Alnus City, and following the end of investigations, all relevant information of criminals and their person would be sent to Italica to await their judgement by Falmart law.

As mentioned above, Rome wasn't built in a day. Or in Falmart's equivalent, the Empire wasn't built in a day - it was built in hundreds of years of rape, slaughter, pillaging, and cultural genocide - and it was only due to some unique circumstances that Alnus City ended up becoming such a powerful contender against even Sadera as a trade city. It was even building a road to connect to Port Brave, which was still housing Taskforce Xenonaut, and if that were the case, it wouldn't be surprising if seafaring trade was soon to come to Alnus.

If Alnus City grew anymore, then in all likelihood it would be big enough to formalize its own army. Most of the Coda Village refugees now either worked on Seran ranches, leading to being paid generously by their employers, or owning and working in several shops. One Coda Village refugee had even asked whether or not he could purchase land, as the local farmers had, and he had been granted that permission. In a way, they now had nobles, albeit these nobles were still technically farmers, and while the USG was technically opposed to nobility the socialistic foundings of Alexiy Desipich didn't prohibit owning of land or privately owned factories and businesses but rather encouraged state-owned corporate business models and socialistic markets. As it stands, most of the USG was still squabbling to find worth in the dollar, and while most of the citizens of the USG - and by citizens we mean people who officially signed themselves on as USG citizens - didn't exactly follow Alexiy Desipich's political ideologies, and if they did, they had long since let them go. So the concept of nobility on the other side of the Gate would be met with very little opposition, though steps were being taken in Newt's administration to prevent Seran nobility from rising up.

As it stood, Alnus City didn't have a mayor, but Kato El Atlestan had become something of a representative among them, and managed most of the City's affairs alongside his apprentice Lelei La Lalena who dealt with the financial problems of the City, for both the Seran and Local businesses and residents. Since it was like this Newt wondered if a Seran Governor was needed, but for now decided that having a local man indebted to the USG in power wasn't a bad idea.

Thus, this concludes a brief summary to the formation of Alnus City. Now, onto the daily lives of our local protagonists.

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

Lelei frowned as she read the papers and books in front of her, rummaging through her mind to correlate what she knew of the 'True Principle' of Falmart with the 'True Principle' these Serans had achieved. Their knowledge on 'Explosions' or in their terms 'Exothermic Combustion' was far more comprehensive than what Falmart scholars could achieve. Though she found some of the words difficult, and she was also quite annoyed at some of the unknown terminologies, since this was a treasured book given to her by that Engineering Scholar Damon Baird, she knew better than to return it before fully understanding all of the book's contents.

As an apprentice, the only way Lelei could ever get any books to study from was if she implored Masters to allow her to use their libraries. Since she was under Kato, she had extensive academic research materials pertaining to the Lindon school's knowledge on combat magic. But that was just that. Despite Kato being a world renowned sage, his library wasn't as large as most Masters, and while the books she had accessed to were brimming with information, they weren't all to detailed. So Lelei, as a student thirsting for knowledge, the books that the Serans had allowed her to use were the greatest gift she could have, enough that the Serans could have her under their servitude if they promised her more of them.

Of course she could make due without the plus one that had been trailing behind her all this time. Derrick, as what she had learned his name to be, was her 'Guard' and kept her safe as she was, in a way, in an office of power inside Alnus City. Lelei wasn't so vain or obtrusive to purposefully go out of her way to do as she pleased, and for the most part she was well-capable of ignoring Derrick, but in recent days he had been able to translate most of what she couldn't understand in the books for her and helping her with her Tyran.

" _Freehk-shun_ ," Derrick intoned as he pointed out the word. "Friction," he told her in the local language. Lelei nodded her head and scribbled down the words into a notebook. In everyday language, Lelei was able to interpret the Serans fairly successfully but some of the vocabulary was difficult for Lelei, especially when some of the language was written in speech suffix, as Derrick called it.

"Freshun molecui adeh la transferi," Lelei said. Derrick nodded his head to show she was correct and stepped back to the wall of the office, his hands returning to his back as he stared up at the ceiling. Lelei frowned and watched him for a few moments, then shrugged. "Derrick, are you a scholar?" She asked. That question had been tingling in the back of her mind every once in awhile. She knew that Damon Baird was, evidently, a technological savant among his people. An inventor. Since he was a soldier, rather than a scholar, Lelei wondered if all Scholars were required to join the military, perhaps to increase military technological growth?

Derrick scratched his cheek and pondered the question for a moment, but he didn't seem to be concentrating all that hard. Lelei knew what was going on in his head, he was worrying over the departure of Gears onboard their King Ravens just shy a few hours ago. In the time Lelei knew Derrick, he seemed to be a very serious soldier, as he took his duty of guarding her seriously, closely watching her whenever she was sitting idly. Guarding for the Serans seem to imply both physical protection as well as mental protection, as whenever Lelei even showed a bit of frustration, Derrick quickly came to help. So in knowing this she could understand the delay in his answer.

"I studied astronomy, in fact I joined the Gears to further my studies while I serve," Derrick told her. Lelei shivered. Astronomy was a touchy subject on Falmart. Ever since the first theorisation that the world was not the center of the universe, and that the world was not flat, the academic world began viewing astrology like a plague. The last discoveries in astronomy led in thousands of angry villagers to knock on the doors of the City, demanding they stop their 'witchcraft' lest they angered the Gods. Academy City had been close to being sacked many times due to astronomy, and even though there were many evidence that the world was round, the people still believed the world was flat, even among the scholars, and that the universe revolved around them. Of course Lelei knew about these findings and while she had been skeptical, new found knowledge among the Seran books had made her realise that the world was indeed round, the world was indeed not the center of the universe, and that space above was indeed more vast than she realised. Just the facts she learned about the stars in the sky, as in being lights emitted billions of years ago, no doubt its source already being dead, would probably cause great upheaval among the peasants.

"Then what is it like, studying astronomy?"

Derrick smiled slightly as he considered the question. "It's an interesting enough field, but even so, it doesn't mesh well with infantry lifestyle. If anything, I would have probably been more welcomed in the Navy."

"Is there any difference between our stars and yours?" Lelei asked as she looked at him. Derrick frowned and looked up at the ceiling for a moment.

"A lot. I've spent a lot of hours looking at your sky, comparing it to what I know of my home. My only conclusion is that we really are from different worlds. Nothing in that sky even resembles my own, all of the constellations and amount of stars completely surprise me," Derrick admitted truthfully. "If I could, I would like to observe them more academically, but then, as an active duty Gear, that would be selfish of me to say."

"Hmm, I don't think studying should be confused with simple personal gain," Lelei said. "Learning and understanding helps everyone, not just the scholar."

"We know that, ma'am," Derrick muttered. "It's...uh, it's difficult to explain. It's just how it is, ma'am. I can't really say anymore than that."

"Hmm," Lelei murmured. She turned back to the book on her desk and mulled over what he said. Perhaps she should ask for a history book next, maybe one of Seran culture? How many countries did Sera even have? Perhaps just one on USG culture, to keep things simplified to the ones directly affecting her. But then even the USG seemed to comprise many different cultures. "Complicated," she muttered, digging a hole into the book with her harsh stare.

Suddenly the ground beneath her began to rumble, and Lelei raised a curious eyebrow as she stood up to her full height. Derrick shifted his stance and glanced at the door to the window guardedly. "What the?" He muttered before running towards the window. Lelei followed after him and peered out at the window. Her office was located in a tower by the outskirts of Alnus City, facing New Anvil Gate, to make it easier for her to exchange information between the residents of the City and the Gears.

She squinted at the white mortar walls and just at the edges of her vision she could see Gears manning them suddenly turn back and run towards the base. Then, the all too familiar sound of gunfire echoed down into her office and she heard Derrick suck in a surprised breath. "An attack?" He said in surprise.

Lelei frowned and turned around, quickly moving to leave her office and make her way straight towards the base. "Ma'am, wait!" Derrick followed after her, his steps heavy as he tried to get her to stop. "If the main base is under attack, it would be best if you evacuate for now. There's no telling what could be happening in the base."

"I want to see," Lelei said as she traveled down the stairs, ignoring the shocked few members of the tower staring out the windows. Most of them were Italican maids sent to Alnus for work, so for the most part, they didn't try to stop Lelei from leaving the tower like how Derrick was doing.

"You're being unreasonable, ma'am," Derrick said. Perhaps she was, and perhaps that was true. Despite asserting herself as logical, Lelei knew she was constrained to her own emotions as anyone else. However, Lelei was not a defenseless mage, she was a student under the Lindon school of combat magic, she could very well defend herself. Her station in the City could also be managed by others, such as a few of the Italican maids, and there would be no decrease in efficiency between them. While perhaps unreasonable in the current view, from an objective far-sighted view, even if harm were to come upon her, very little of that would affect the City.

"Perfectly reasonable," Lelei said and began trekking up the pathway that led to New Anvil Gate. The path was used quite often by the Gear vehicles, so the ground wasn't that uncomfortable beneath her feet, if anything she was vaguely annoyed by the crunch of metal boots on dirt next to her.

"Ma'am, it doesn't seem reasonable at-" Derrick stopped as the ground beneath his feet shook and he glanced up at New Anvil Gate. The thumps continued to grow even greater in intensity and strength. A loud roar was heard, and the Gear felt his face grow pasty white as he stared up at the white walls of Seran make. "No way."

Lelei widened her eyes as a large reptilian creature crashed its way through the gate that led into the Gear base. "Brumak!" Derrick yelled, his voice shrill as he grabbed Lelei around her waist and tossed her towards the grass next to the pathway. "Wild Hollows!" The Gear yelled again as he pulled his rifle off his back.

When the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon was fired, only the Locust Horde was affected in any significant way. While the Hollows had been mostly drowned out or collapsed due to the Lightmass Offensive, a large number of Hollow creatures had been left on the surface or were forced to migrate with their home in shambles. Many of the bioengineered animals that the Locust created or native Seran subterranean creatures took to the surface and had been fighting Gear scavenger teams and Stranded for months after the end of the Locust War.

Wild Brumaks weren't exactly something new to Derrick's eyes, but this was the first time he would be fighting one on his own and with a rifle of all things. "Back, get back!" He ordered as he pulled his gun up. But to his utter amazement the Brumak only snorted at him before turning around and taking off running south towards Tybe Mountain. He stared at its back and then squawked in horrible realisation as even more Hollow creatures started appearing from the other side of the Gate.

Corpsers, Wretches, Reavers, Seeders; it was a monster gallery as dozens of each creature that the Locusts once bred in their subterranean hell hole began following after their Brumak cousin. Hell, there were even several other wild Brumaks chasing after the group behind them. "They're running?" Derrick said as he stared at the creatures completely ignoring Alnus City and the two humans before them to instead migrate towards the mountain. "What on Earth?"

However, seeing that the animals weren't chewing them down to bits, Derrick decided not to take a gift for granted and pulled Lelei under his arm and took off running back towards Alnus City. All the while Lelei stared in rabid fascination at the monstrous creatures that were streaming out of the Gear base, practically ignoring the weapons fire that the Gears were letting loose onto their tough hides. No, it would be better to say that most of the bullets just pinged off them. Lelei especially shivered when she saw several centipede like creatures that looked just as armored as a Flame Dragon trail behind the huge pack of creatures.

Suddenly Lelei thought she understood why most of the Gear soldiers were hulking behemoths. "Terrifying," she muttered as she stared at them all.

0o0o **A Tomorrow For Us** o0o0

"They're pushing on our flanks!" Dimitri yelled as he unloaded a full clip into a pack of Stormvermin slashing their way through onto their rooftop. Carmine was standing next to him, and tossed a desperate grenade into the mass of Skavens around them in order to hold them back.

"KR-One-Six, we need immediate support on our position, I repeat, immediate support," Cole's voice blared into the comms. Dimitri managed to look behind him at the burly Sergeant, just in time to catch a Stormvermin drag itself into view, its teeth snarling as a scimitar was grasped tightly in its hand.

"Down!" Cole ducked his head at the command, and DImitri fired a trio of bursts into the Stormvermin's chest. It gurgled out blood from it's mouth and slowly tumbled backwards before tripping over the edge. The Skaven behind it tossed the corpse underneath them and mercilessly stomped over their fallen brethren without pause. Dimitri tsked and ejected the spent clip.

An arrow whizzed past his ear, coated in magic and spiralling faster than he could track with his eyes, The arrow cut straight through the space in front of him and speared itself through a whole column of Skaven. "Good shot," Dimitri complemented Yao. The elf nodded her head and notched another arrow.

"I told you we should have stayed underground, but nobody ever listens!" Carmine groused as he punched the nearest Skaven in the first. Another one latched to his kneecap and the burly Gear struggled to shake it off him when Sam came around to blast shotgun pellets into its face.

"How did they zero in on us so quickly?" Sam muttered as she pulled Carmine back from the edges. "We were skirting the outer edges too!"

""Skaven have good senses," Yao said, breathless as she pressed her back against Dimitri's. "They must have smelled us!" Dimitri growled low under his breath and revved up his Lancer. A group of Skaven managed to get in close and he swung right, cutting three of them in one stroke. But the remaining Skaven managed to jump him, pulling him to the ground and causing his rifle to fall out of his grasp.

"I got you!" Cole kicked the Skaven off him, his heavy boot smashing the head into pulp as he rounded his shotgun up and fired a stream of pellets into the nearest Skaven's chest. "We need to hold out for the reinforcements!" The squad firmed up their formation, placing their backs onto each other as they fended off the wave of Skaven.

They had just gotten onto the city's streets when the Skaven horde suddenly rounded on them. It was quick and sudden. but Delta Team was nothing if not reactive. They quickly went into the buildings for better cover, and continually relocated until they reached the roof. It may not have been one of their fiercest fights since coming here, but it was definitely chaotic.

Cole punched a Skaven in the face, crushing its mouth and and caving in its skull. He pulled back, pulling his Lancer up to smack it overhead with the spikes of his chainsaw. The Sergeant kicked the corpse away and fired a steady stream of bullets through the throng of Skaven. Yao pulled up and notched one of her arrows again, this one with a sphere of fire forming at it's tip.

She fired and the arrow dug itself into one of the leading Skaven, propelling it back enough that it crashed into its brethren. Cole watched, amazed, as the Skaven's anguish screams was silenced immediately with a large explosion, scorching a dozen Skaven in their place. Cole gave Yao an appreciative nod, and turned to the sky when he heard the sound of blades slicing through the air.

The grin that came to his face was natural, as he fully expected Gear reinforcements to be in the sky, ready to rain down hell and give support to their beleaguered forces, but instead he saw a man spinning in the air, dressed in the same armor he had seen in the ravine below the city.

Cole blinked in surprise, caught utterly bewildered at the surreal sight, before the soldier came down right at the middle of the ranks of Skaven. The soldier, human native to Falmart from what Cole could see, roared out in apparent anger and he began slashing at the Skaven around him like a madman.

"Don't shoot him!" Cole ordered, confused but at least sated in knowing the other man was an enemy to the Skaven. But just in case he kept his gun trained on the man. The other soldier was comparatively the most berserk soldier Cole had ever seen in his life, and with every swing of his blade he managed to cut down a dozen Skaven.

"Fucking hell!" Carmine grunted as he watched the soldier. The Elben soldier pushed straight through the Skaven, spearing through them with ferocious swordplay. "Shit, he's coming straight for us!"

"Do not shoot!" Cole said again. "Cover him!" Sam and Carmine readjusted their aim and began firing down in quick sustained bursts to fell down several Skaven nearby the soldier. The Elben looked at the group in surprise, but nodded in thanks.

Cole, however, was staring at his eyes, which was glowing with black ethereal light. Now, Cole had seen some weird shit in his day, had been seeing a lot more weird shit since coming into this world, but that had to take the cake. The soldier's eyes was brimming with darkness and every time he swung his sword his eyes would gain a darker intensity.

It was about a few minutes later before all of the Skaven were either dead or had ran away, The members of Delta Team turned to the newcomer, their faces guarded. Yao, however, had a surprised and shocked look on her face as she stared at him.

"Hello...um...," the solder blinked, running his eyes around the group.

"Sergeant Cole," Cole greeted him, stepping forward with his usual smile. He pushed his hand forward to try and give a handshake but to his surprise Yao had darted forward and stopped Cole's hand from moving. The Sergeant blinked, and he would have cracked a joke at the movement had Yao not been holding his hand in a vice-like grip. She looked at him in the eyes and shook her head lowly.

Frowning, Cole turned around to stare at Dimitri and Sam, who both gave him shrugs. Carmine, as usual, was priming his gun just in case.

The soldier on the other hand looked at Yao as though what she had done was a very normal reaction and nodded his head to her. "It was right of you to stop him," the soldier stated, then he turned his eyes back to Cole. "Sir Cole, I am an envoy sent by His Majesty Prince Culan, the First Son of His Majesty King Duran of Elbe, the Unyielding, and the Protector of the Mountains of Elbe and of the Plains of Elbe. We had heard the sounds of your most fearsome battle and he had sent me here to discover your allegiance."

"There are others of you?" Dimitri asked. The soldier looked pointedly at Dimitri's but held his piece as he nodded his head.

"The Prince, pending Crown King, had launched an assault on the city to retake it from Skaven forces. Our men have been fighting a protracted war against the Skaven for many years, but they have recently begun their attacks in earnest after near three decades of rest."

"We hadn't realised that you were attacking the city. We didn't seen any signs of it just now or when we were attacked by the Skaven outside of the city," Sam stated, hefting her lancer up. The soldier looked troubled as he turned his eyes to the sky.

"So that was you firing those loud weapons in the forest? Commander Beffon had routed a formation of Stormvermin guarding the walls and when he went to chase after them he heard the queerest sounds of explosions, unlike anything he'd heard of before." The soldier shrugged his shoulders. "Am I to assume you are the soldiers from Beyond the Gate?"

"Yes, that's us." Cole replied, nodding his head. "There are more of us coming. We sent out a call for them to reinforce us when you came around to help us."

The soldier raised his eyebrows, his eyes widening in a disconcerting manner as it revealed more of the black ethereal energy oozing out of the sockets. "Then, the Prince would need to be informed. Benioff!" A squad of people with the same set of eyes as the soldier in front of them appeared from the street. Delta squad tensed their shoulders, watching the newcomers with wary gazes.

"Get a runner, a fast one to the Prince. He will need to be informed of foreign reinforcements soon to arrive," the soldier stated. Benioff hesitated, staring at the Delta's like they were a plague, before nodding minutely. Cole had already to surprise, so he didn't show much of a reaction when shadow-like tentacles sprouted from the ground to coat the person's leg, and he vanished into the darkness, flying away like a shadow.

"What the...," Carmine muttered. Cole agreed.

"What is this?" Yao hissed stepping towards him. "You reek of old god magic!" Cole stepped back, shocked at Yao's sudden outburst, but held his piece as he watched them both.

The soldier looked at Yao, his eyes trailing over her frame in disgust. "It matters little to you Dark Elf," he hissed.

Dimitri stepped forward, racking the bolt of his gun loudly. He growled softly in his throat. The soldier turned his eyes to him and Cole noted how the edges of his dark eyes sparked with wisps of what looked like lightning.

"Have you become so desperate that you've sold yourselves to the Others?" Yao muttered, her lips twisted in revulsion as she crossed her arms.

The soldier glowered at her then snapped his eyes to the sky. Cole frowned, wondering about his reaction, when he too heard the snapping cuts of helicopter blades in the air. He blinked and looked up, realising that the cavalry had indeed finally arrived. He shifted then turned back to look at the soldier. "Our friends here."

The soldier nodded his head. "So it would seem. Come, we best make post haste to the Prince so that we may meet on more.. ," he glanced at Yao. "Peaceful sides."

"Uh, yea." Awkwardly Cole made a one finger salute in place for a handshake. "The name's Cole."

The soldier looked at him, his brow furrowed, and nodded his head. "Commander Delmo of the Asterisk Corp."

 **This is just me setting up some more stuff. I don't really have much to say for this chapter other than that I hope the next chapter comes along quicker than this.**


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